and children, have been found inside a shipping container being
unloaded in eastern England.
They were found inside the container at Tilbury Docks in Essex, east
of London on Saturday.
Workers at the Tilbury docks, the main port for London east of the
British capital, made the discovery on board a P&O cargo vessel that
had arrived from Zeebrugge port in Belgium. Officials reported hearing
banging sounds.
"One man has sadly died and the others have significant health
problems. They are being treated by ambulance crews and are being
taken to local hospitals," an Essex Police spokesman told the AFP news
agency.
The East of England Ambulance Service says it sent seven ambulances
and other emergency teams to treat the immigrants for hypothermia and
dehydration. The 35 survivors were transferred to three hospitals.
Essex police said that for the time being they were treating the
incident as a homicide investigation.
"As a result of the ferry docking, staff at the port became aware of
screaming and banging coming from the container,"Superintendent Trevor
Roe told reporters.
An East of England Ambulance spokesman added: "It was a very difficult
scene for our first crews there."
Port staff were busy searching other containers from the ferry in case
there were more people inside.
No further details were immediately available of how long the group
had been inside the container or where they had entered it.
"Our initial priority is to assess the level and nature of any
injuries, and ensure that those people in most need are treated first
and taken to hospital," a statement said.
Tilbury, on the River Thames, is primarily a bulk cargo and container
port and not such a prime target for immigrants as those on the south
coast, such as Dover.
Essex police said they had started an investigation and were working
with immigration and health authorities.
They have yet to identify the dead man but suspect that many of those
hiding in the container are from India.
No comments:
Post a Comment