U.K. police have launched a murder investigation after the
bodies of 39 people were found inside a truck container on an industrial estate
in southern England.
Police reported that everyone inside the container – 38 adults and one teenager – was found dead, adding that identifying the victims would be a “lengthy process” and their nationality was unknown.
The truck’s
driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, has been arrested on suspicion
of murder.
Police believe the truck traveled from Bulgaria and entered
the U.K. on October 19 via the Welsh port of Holyhead, a major roll-on/roll-off
entry point for traffic from Ireland. The truck and bodies were discovered by
police shortly before 01:40 BST at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex.
Early indications point to human trafficking by criminal
gangs as the cause of the deaths. Indeed, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has
sent officers to assist the investigation into the 39 deaths with a remit of
identifying any involvement by criminal gangs.
“We are working with partners
including Essex Police and Immigration Enforcement to provide specialist
support to urgently identify and take action against any organised crime groups
who have played a role in causing these deaths,” a
spokesperson told FreightWaves.
If the deaths are proven to be the result of people
smuggling, the words of Duncan Buchanan, policy director at the Road Haulage
Association (RHA), a U.K.-based trucking representative body, will be proven
sadly prescient.
Speaking to FreightWaves earlier in October, Buchanan predicted a rise in human trafficking and the targeting of trucking by criminal gangs ahead of the scheduled exit from the EU of the U.K. on October 31 after when checks at U.K. ports are expected to be tightened.
“We’re in a situation now that 40, 50, 100 miles away from the
main exit points of the EU there are migrants trying to get into vehicles,” he said. “It’s a
serious problem. It hasn’t gone
away; in fact, there has been an increase because the smugglers have been
saying Britain is going to be ‘closed’ after October 31.”
Seamus Leheny, Northern Ireland policy manager for the
Freight Transport Association (FTA), told the BBC that if the truck discovered
this morning is found to have originated in Bulgaria, getting into Britain via
Holyhead was an “unorthodox route.”
He added that, after reports of increased security checks at
Dover and Calais, “it might be seen as an easier way to get in by going
from Cherbourg or Roscoff, over to Rosslare, then up the road to Dublin”
and then across to Wales and into England.
Arrests related to human trafficking to the U.K. are certainly on the rise. On October 21 the NCA reported the arrest of five men suspected of hiding migrants in a cattle truck in a bid to smuggle them into the U.K. The arrests followed the discovery of 13 migrants, including one child, found in a hay compartment on a lorry carrying livestock in the port of Calais, France, on October 19.
“Border Force officers had
searched the vehicle acting on information from the NCA,” said an NCA statement. “After
the search the lorry driver, a British national, was detained by the French
authorities.”
Four more men, aged between 23 and 39, were then arrested by
the NCA on suspicion of facilitating immigration in a series of raids in
Romford and Brentwood, also located in the county of Essex, just a 30-minute
drive from where the 39 people were found dead this morning.
Richard Burnett, RHA chief executive, said the investigation
into the 39 deaths was ongoing and “our
thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives.”
He added, “Whatever
the circumstances of this tragedy it highlights the danger of migrant gangs’ people smuggling on lorries.”
A representative of the FTA added that migrants were
currently targeting all Northern European ports, not just Calais in France.
“FTA is calling for the
government to maintain close contact with its European counterparts to ensure
security systems are maintained,” added
the representative. “The
safety of both the drivers and migrants must be protected. Our thoughts are
with the families of those who have lost their lives so tragically.”
