A teenager has been charged with piloting a boat that capsized and killed four people in the English Channel. Deputy District Judge Nicola Fleck remanded the 19-year-old, who has no fixed address, in custody to appear in Canterbury Crown Court on January 16. During the hearing, he sat impassively in the dock, wearing a navy puffer jacket. Bah was charged on December 14 with piloting a boat in the Channel that facilitated an intended breach of immigration law by a number of non-UK nationals. According to the court, there were between 43 and 48 other people on board. Bah’s hearing was delayed for several hours because a wrong-language interpreter was sent to court. Today, Bah appeared in Folkestone Magistrates’ Court. Stock picture Today, Bah appeared in Folkestone Magistrates’ Court. Photographic stock A major rescue operation off the Kent coast began at 2.16am on Wednesday, December 14 after reports of a boat in distress, with the Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard, RNLI lifeboats, ambulance service and police involved. Four people were pronounced dead, including a teenager, while 39 others were safely rescued. The circumstances surrounding the deaths are being investigated by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, assisted by the National Crime Agency. A man was arrested in connection with the incident on Friday, and on Sunday Kent Police said the Crown Prosecution Service authorised a charge against Bah of knowingly facilitating the attempted arrival in the UK of people he knew or had reasonable cause to believe were asylum seekers. Police are still working to determine the identities of those who died and locate their next of kin.