Shocked and bruised, a survivor of a shooting at a migrant camp near Dunkirk has told Sky News how he saw his friends murdered by “the angel of death”.
Two migrants and two security guards were shot dead by a 22-year-old French gunman at a migrant camp in Loon-Plage on Saturday, while a further victim was targeted in a nearby town, according to local media.
The two migrants had just returned from the coast after being rescued in the middle of the English Channel after a failed attempt to reach Britain.
Matin, a 25-year-old Kurdish migrant, said that “a guy came with a shotgun and showered us with bullets”.
Image: One of the two migrants who were shot dead
When we asked if anything had provoked the attack, he said he did not know any reason. “The gunman came and, all of sudden, drew a shotgun.
“Initially, we thought he would fire in the air and then he loaded the gun and aimed at us. We saw Azrael [the Islamic Angel of Death].
“We saw death with our own eyes. It was God’s will that we survived. In one day, we saw death twice.”
More on France
Related Topics:
The two victims, named Hamid and Hadi, were walking along with their two friends, Rashad and Matin. All four migrants, aged around 25, were Kurds who had spent around a month living in camps near the northern French coast.
Sky News spoke to Matin by telephone after he gave evidence to the French police, describing a green car used by the killer, who he described as a white French man wearing glasses.
“He fired around 15 bullets; Hamid was hit in the head and Hadi was also hit. Rashad was shot at twice but he wasn’t hit. We managed to hide.”
Matin said the four men had previously spent eight hours at sea trying to get to Britain on a dinghy that was palpably unsuitable. The boat set off with 85 people on board before, he said, the police took 50 people off.
Image: Sky News understands the migrants who died were called Hamid and Hadi, and had tried to cross the Channel to the UK earlier on Saturday
“We reached international waters,” said Matin, “then our dinghy fell apart and we almost drowned. After five minutes in the water, thank God the police reached us – we had no life jackets.
“They pulled us out of the water, we were soaking wet. We got back to the land and went to collect clothes [from a charity] as our clothes were wet. We were dying of cold.
“We were close to the camp when this man turns up and gets out of the car. He fired at us. Me and Rashad were not hit. Hamid was hit in the head and Hadi in his stomach.
“I have to talk to their families, but I don’t know what to say. Hamid had sold his house to get to Europe. Me, I feel hollow inside now.
“I have seen death twice in a day and it’s too much. I don’t know what to do.”
The conclave to elect Pope Francis’s successor will begin on 7 May, the Vatican has announced.
Some 135 cardinal electors – those under the age of 80 – will take part and vote for the new pontiff.
The rituals of the event, held in the Sistine Chapel, are elaborate and date back centuries. So how does the process work?
When Pope Francis died, the Catholic Church entered a period known as “sede vacante”, meaning “empty seat”.
His ring and seal – used to dispatch papal documents – were broken to prevent anyone else from using them.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell – the Camerlengo, or chamberlain, who announced Francis’s death – became the interim chief of the Catholic Church.
Image: Pic: Reuters
The conclave
Cardinals travel to Rome from all over the world and stay until a new pope is chosen.
Of the 252 current ones, there are 135 cardinal electors: 53 from Europe; 23 from Asia; 20 from North America; 18 from Africa; 17 from South America; and four from Oceania.
Italy has the most cardinals who can vote, with 17, while the US has 10 and Brazil has seven. The UK has three.
Image: A papal crest dedicated to Pope Pius XII. Pic: Reuters
Once the conclave begins, the cardinals will not emerge from the Vatican until a new pope has been chosen. The word “conclave” comes from Latin, meaning “with key” – a reference to the isolation in which the cardinals are kept.
While holding voting sessions in the Sistine Chapel, they sleep in the Casa Santa Marta – a guesthouse inside the Vatican’s grounds.
The longest conclave lasted almost three years, between 1268 and 1271. Several have lasted only one day. The one which elected Pope John Paul in 1978 lasted less than three days. Cardinals chose Pope Francis in around two days.
While the conclave is ongoing, cardinals are unable to communicate with the outside world. No telephones, internet use or newspapers are allowed.
Except for the first day, when only one ballot is held, the cardinals hold two daily votes until one candidate has a majority of two-thirds plus one. They are sworn to secrecy about the voting.
White smoke?
So how do we know if a decision has been reached? Yes, this is the black smoke, white smoke part.
If the cardinals have not reached a majority, the cards and the tally sheets are placed in a stove and burned with an additive to produce black smoke, showing the outside world that a pope has not yet been chosen.
Image: No pope yet… black smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel. Pic: Reuters
Watching for the tell-tale smoke arising from the top of the Sistine Chapel is a tradition, with Catholics crowding into St Peter’s Square for the spectacle.
If no result has been reached after three days, the sessions are suspended for a day to allow for prayer and discussion. More ballots are held until a two-thirds majority is reached.
When enough cardinals have agreed on a candidate, he is asked if he accepts the papacy and by which name he wishes to be known.
The ballots are burned as before, but with an additive to produce white smoke.
Image: A Papal white skull cap. Pic: Reuters
New pope proclaimed
The new pope then dons his new papal vestments – tailors keep large, medium and small sizes ready – and sits on a throne in the Sistine Chapel to receive the other cardinals who file up to pay homage and swear obedience to the church’s new leader.
The senior cardinal deacon then steps out on to the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica overlooking the square and announces in Latin: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam” (I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope) and reveals the cardinal’s name and the name he has chosen.
When Canada goes to the polls today, it might be the second election Donald Trump wins in six months.
The US president has transformed Canada’s political landscape, and the “Trump effect” looks like it will be the difference between winners and losers.
Tariffs, and his threat to annexe the country as the 51st state, have provoked a surge in Canadian nationalism, and it’s made a favourite of the candidate styled anti-Trump.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:54
‘Canada will win’
His ruling Liberal party had been written off as an electoral contender. Canadians had turned their back on the party after a decade in power under Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau.
The opposition Conservative Party, under the effective leadership of Pierre Poilievre, grew to a 25-point lead in the polls on the promise of change on the economy, crime and a chronic housing crisis.
However, his conservative politics are more aligned with the neighbour in the White House and, in Canada right now, it’s not a good look.
Image: Pierre Poilievre led the Conservatives to a 25-point lead before Trudeau stepped down. Pic: Reuters
In a stunning reversal of fortune, the Conservative Party’s lead vanished within weeks, as Canadians turned to Carney as the choice to take on Trump.
If he wins, the swing from Conservative to Liberal will be the biggest swing in the polls in recent democratic history.
Carney, 60, is the former governor of the Bank of Canada, as well as England. He replaced Mr Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and Canadian prime minister after his predecessor stepped down last month.
Polls indicate that Canadians see Carney as a stronger choice to negotiate with Donald Trump. He is a veteran of economic turmoil, having dealt with the 2008 financial crisis and Brexit.
Image: Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney after an English-language leaders’ debate in Montreal. Pic: Reuters
At a weekend news conference, Sky News asked the Canadian prime minister what lessons he’d learned from Brexit that could be applied to his dealings with Donald Trump.
He replied: “The lessons of Brexit are beginning to be applied. When you break off, or substantially rupture, trading relationships with your major trading partners, including the most important trading partner of the United States, you end up with slower growth, higher inflation, higher interest rates, volatility, weaker currency, a weaker economy.
“We’re in the early stages of that in the United States, and that’s one of the important things here. With respect to influencing the president, with respect to the dynamics of a negotiation, America’s going to get weaker as time goes on, we’re going to get stronger.”
Canada’s vote is as close as it gets to a single-issue election.
Carney’s position as favourite is reinforced consistently by the opinion polls, although the gap narrowed as election day approached.
The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:49
From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral
Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainianleader was “calmer”.
“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.
“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.
However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.
“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.
It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.
State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”
It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:26
From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit
The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.