British police find 39 bodies in truck believed to have come from Bulgaria
- Police say the truck is believed to have entered the UK from Bulgaria on Saturday
- Britain’s biggest human trafficking tragedy was in 2000, when the bodies of 58 Chinese people were found in a truck in Dover
The discovery of the bodies – 38 adults and one teenager – was made in the early hours after emergency services were alerted to people in the container at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, not far from docks on the River Thames.
In Britain’s biggest human trafficking tragedy in 2000, British customs officials found the bodies of 58 Chinese people crammed into a tomato truck at the southern port of Dover.
Police on Wednesday said the driver of the truck, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was appalled. “I am receiving regular updates and the Home Office will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened,” Johnson said on Twitter. “My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives & their loved ones.”