Horror in Britain as 39 found dead in a truck
London: Investigators were trying to piece together the movements of a large cargo truck found on Wednesday containing the bodies of 39 people in one of Britain’s worst people smuggling tragedies.
Police initially said the truck had travelled through Ireland and then to Wales via ferry, but that theory changed on Wednesday afternoon when Essex police in England said they believe the truck went from the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet, England.
Police did not explain the change from the route mentioned at a news conference in the morning. Details about the victims, including where they were from, were scarce. Essex police said they have not been identified – a process they warned would be slow. The truck’s driver – a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland – was arrested on suspicion of murder.
In parliament, Prime Minister Boris Johnson put aside the Brexit crisis, at least for a few minutes, and vowed that the people traffickers would be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Johnson said it was an “unimaginable tragedy and truly heartbreaking”, while Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was “shocked and saddened”.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, said those responsible for the Essex truck deaths must be “swiftly brought to justice”.
