The bodies of 39 people were found in a truck container at an industrial park in Essex, east of London, after they had apparently been transported from Bulgaria.
Jackie Doyle-Price, a Conservative member of Parliament who represents the constituency where the bodies were found, indicated that they were victims of human trafficking. “Sickening news of 39 people found dead in a container in Grays,” she said. “People trafficking is a vile and dangerous business.”
Essex police said the male driver, 25, from Northern Ireland, was arrested on suspicion of murder. “At this stage we have not identified where the victims are from or their identities, and we anticipate that this could be a lengthy process,” police said in a statement Wednesday.
They added that they believed the truck came from Bulgaria and into Britain via Holyhead, a port in Wales on Saturday. All but one of the victims, believed to be a teenager, were thought to be adults.
In 2000, 58 bodies of trafficking victims were found in the back of a truck at the English channel port of Dover in Kent. Two people in the truck had survived. Perry Wacker, a Dutch driver who had driven the truck from Belgium, was jailed for 14 years for manslaughter. The victims had suffocated when he shut an air vent in a bid to avoid detention.
Last year, three Bulgarian men and an Afghan were jailed after 71 dead migrants — 59 men, eight women, three children, and a baby — were found in a lorry in Austria. The victims had died in Hungary, where the four men were subsequently jailed.
Freight experts cited by The Times of London said the 39 victims might have arrived in the British Isles from Rosslare in County Wexford in the Irish Republic after leaving Cherbourg or Roscoff in France, and then been taken to Holyhead via Dublin, the Irish capital.
British lawmakers expressed their horror over the incident.
Sickening news of 39 people found dead in a container in Grays. People trafficking is a vile and dangerous business. This is a big investigation for @EssexPoliceUK Lets hope they bring these murderers to justice
— Jackie Doyle-Price (@JackieDP) October 23, 2019
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “appalled by this tragic incident.”
I’m appalled by this tragic incident in Essex. I am receiving regular updates and the Home Office will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened. My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives & their loved ones.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 23, 2019
