The authorities in Belgium have admitted that a two-year-old girl who died after police opened fire on a van carrying migrants near Mons on Thursday was shot in the face.

Prosecutors had initially denied the account given to the Guardian by relatives of the girl, called Mawda, suggesting instead that she had been taken ill or died as a result of erratic driving.



The child was killed after a police patrol followed and intercepted a van containing 26 adults and four children, including Mawda, on a highway near the city of Mons in the early hours of Thursday morning.

She was travelling with her Kurdish-Iraqi parents and three-year-old brother. A source told the Guardian that police opened fire in an effort to stop the vehicle, which was being driven by alleged people smugglers to a lorry park on the coast. From there, the refugees were to be smuggled onboard lorries destined for the UK.



However, a source had told the Guardian that police opened fire on the van in an effort to force it to stop. A bullet is alleged to have penetrated the vehicle and hit the girl in the cheek.

Following the gunfire, it is understood that officers surrounded the vehicle in a 45-minute standoff as they assessed the situation. Upon opening the doors of the van, the child’s mother screamed for help. An ambulance was called and took the child to a Mons hospital, where she was pronounced dead. It is believed, however, that Mawda died at the scene.

Frédéric Bariseau, a spokesman for the Tournai prosecutor’s office, confirmed on Friday afternoon that Mawda died as a result of a gunshot injury, but said he could not confirm the provenance of the bullet.

“The autopsy determined that the cause of death was a bullet that entered the cheek,” said Bariseau.

“I want to be careful about saying that the bullet could be of police origin. We have to assess the evidence.

“Police have opened an internal investigation to determine the circumstances of the girl’s death.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The family of German-born Mawda have been placed in accommodation in Belgium. Photograph: Handout

In a statement released on Thursday, Bariseau had denied reports that the girl had been shot. “The little girl did not die as a result of police gunfire,” he said, suggesting several possible causes including illness, an accident inside the van caused by the driver’s behaviour, or a blow to the head.

Jan Jambon, Belgium’s interior minister, wrote on Twitter: “[a] tragic event with dramatic consequences. The investigation is ongoing.”

A source close to the family told the Guardian: “The family are worried that their daughter’s death will be covered up with no one being held to account. They have been told by the authorities that Mawda will be buried on Tuesday.

“Her family have been placed in accommodation in Belgium. However, they have been told that they have to decide whether they are seeking asylum in Belgium. They have until tomorrow to make up their minds, failing which they have to leave and might possibly be deported back to Germany, but this is unclear.

“Either way, authorities have stated that once they have ‘legally settled in a country’ they can claim Mawda’s body and have it transferred.”

The source alleged that the family had previously been smuggled to the UK but was deported to Germany last year by UK authorities since Mawda was born there, and is therefore a German national.



Two-year-old girl dies after incident involving armed police in Belgium Read more

Zakia Khattabi, co-leader of the Belgian Green party, Mawda’s death was the result of an “increasingly repressive” migration policy. “I want to extend our sympathy to the victim and the victim’s family,” she said. “But after emotion comes anger. We demand that the spotlight is put on this case and that political responsibilities are taken.”

Belgium’s federal government has been criticised for its increasingly tough stance on migrants. Theo Francken, the country’s immigration minister, said last year that Europe must turn back boats carrying would-be migrants across the Mediterranean.

“Taking a ticket on a smuggler boat does not give you free entrance into the European continent,” said Francken, a member of the Flemish separatist N-VA, the largest party in the governing coalition.

Earlier this year, Francken drew criticism for deporting Sudanese migrants, several of whom later said they were tortured after being returned home.</s>Belgian prosecutors have admitted a two-year-old Kurdish Iraqi girl was shot and killed by a police officer last week. It happened during a high-speed chase of a van carrying 26 refugees, including several children.

The case has highlighted the increasingly repressive Belgian immigration policy and pressure on police to intercept as many migrants as possible.

Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull spoke to the grieving family in an exclusive interview in Brussels.</s>Police stop early morning high speed chase on Decker Blvd. and Two Notch Rd.

RICHLAND, S.C. (WOLO) – Forest Acres Sheriff’s Department stopped a driver that led police on a high speed chase on Decker Boulevard and Two Notch Road.

Authorities responded to a call around 3 this morning about a driver going too fast on Decker Boulevard and Two Notch Road.

Officers say the chase stopped after the driver crashed the vehicle.

Authorities haven’t released the name of the driver or the cause of the high speed chase.

Troopers are still investigating the incident.

ABC Columbia will keep you updated with more information.</s>The toddler was killed after police followed and intercepted a van.

But later admitted a police officer fired the shot that killed a two-year-old Kurdish girl during the chase in Mons.

The local prosecutor general Ignacio De la Serna told reporters, according to the Belga news agency: “The police officer who fired the bullet is overcome and devastated. He never wanted nor could have imagined this.

“It’s a tragic event that everyone regrets, including the police officers … The shooter, whose intention was to stop the van, has been questioned and the examining judge is currently reviewing all the evidence before deciding whether to press any charges.”

Prosecutors initially refused to confirm whether Mawda Shawri had died after being shot in the cheek, saying instead she could have fallen ill or died as a result of erratic driving, but formally acknowledged the real cause of death after the autopsy results were released.</s>A Belgian policeman fired the bullet that killed a two-year-old girl during a high-speed chase of a van transporting migrants in Belgium last week, prosecutors confirmed Tuesday.

Prosecutors announced the results of the probe into the death of Mawda Shawri, after officials said Friday that she had died from a bullet wound in the incident May 17 but did not say who had fired it.

The prosecutor's office in the southern town of Mons said the investigation showed only one bullet had been fired "during a dangerous high-speed chase over 60 kilometers (36 miles)" and traced it to a police officer.

"The officer who opened fire is overcome and disconsolate. He neither wanted nor could have imagined this," prosecutor general Ignacio De la Serna told reporters, according to the Belga news agency.

"It's a tragic event that everyone regrets, including the police officers," he added.

The police officer who fired the shot had appeared before a judge, who is reviewing all the evidence before deciding whether to press any charges, the prosecutor said.

The toddler died in an ambulance on her way to hospital.

The lawyer for the girl's family, Olivier Stein, told AFP that the prosecutors could have avoided confusion over how the girl died if they had questioned his clients directly.

But instead, he said, they had "treated them more like offenders than victims."

Stein said judicial authorities had told him the bullet was fired "at a moment when the van was traveling at 90 kilometers per hour" as police squad cars moved beside it.
Belgian prosecutors admit that a 2-year-old child was killed by police during a high-speed chase with a van last week, after initially denying it.