A police investigation is under way after 34 people thought to be from the Indian sub-continent were found early on August 17 in an import shipping container at Tilbury Docks, together with a man’s body. The survivors were discovered after screaming and banging on the steel sides of the container to attract attention. After treatment, one man was being questioned by police. The container had arrived on a P&O freight ferry from Zeebrugge.
The ship in question takes both trailers and containers and Belgian police have already established details of the vehicle which dropped the box at the Belgian port. Police are trying to identify the driver. It is unknown if the container in question was subject to transhipment and, if so, the original port of loading.
The survivors are being treated at various Essex hospitals.