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| Tilbury container group are Sikhs from Afghanistan, says Essex police | Tilbury container group are Sikhs from Afghanistan, says Essex police |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| The suspected illegal immigrants found in a shipping container at the port of Tilbury on the Thames estuary are Sikhs from Afghanistan, Essex police have said as they pressed ahead with a murder investigation. | |
| One man among the group of 35 men, women and children was found dead when port staff discovered the stowaways early on Saturday. A postmortem was being carried out on Sunday. | One man among the group of 35 men, women and children was found dead when port staff discovered the stowaways early on Saturday. A postmortem was being carried out on Sunday. |
| Four remain at Southend hospital although they are expected to be released soon. The other 30 have been discharged from hospital and are in the care of Essex police and Border Force staff at Tilbury. | Four remain at Southend hospital although they are expected to be released soon. The other 30 have been discharged from hospital and are in the care of Essex police and Border Force staff at Tilbury. |
| Police said the group included 13 children aged as young as one and adults aged up to 72. | |
| "The welfare and health of the people is our priority at this stage," said Supt Trevor Roe, of Essex police. "Now they are well enough, our officers and colleagues from the Border Force will be speaking to them via interpreters so we can piece together what happened and how they came to be in the container." | "The welfare and health of the people is our priority at this stage," said Supt Trevor Roe, of Essex police. "Now they are well enough, our officers and colleagues from the Border Force will be speaking to them via interpreters so we can piece together what happened and how they came to be in the container." |
| Initial reports said the group was from the Indian region, possibly Punjab, but Roe said the migrants were thought to be Sikhs from Afghanistan. | |
| "We now understand that they are from Afghanistan and are of the Sikh faith," he said. "We have had a good deal of help from partners within the local Sikh community in the Tilbury area to ensure that these poor people, who would have been through a horrific ordeal, are supported in terms of their religious and clothing needs." | "We now understand that they are from Afghanistan and are of the Sikh faith," he said. "We have had a good deal of help from partners within the local Sikh community in the Tilbury area to ensure that these poor people, who would have been through a horrific ordeal, are supported in terms of their religious and clothing needs." |
| There were fears that another container with people inside may have arrived on the ship, but no one else was found after all the ship's containers were searched. | There were fears that another container with people inside may have arrived on the ship, but no one else was found after all the ship's containers were searched. |
| The container was on a P&O-owned commercial vessel, the Norstream, that carries freight between Zeebrugge, Belgium, and Tilbury. It left Zeebrugge on Friday at 10pm and arrived at Tilbury on Saturday morning carrying 64 containers, 72 trailers and five lorries and drivers. The group was found inside a container by port staff just after 6.30am when they were heard screaming and banging. Many were suffering from dehydration and hypothermia. | |
| Essex police are working with their counterparts in Belgium to track down the driver of the container and the company that owns it. Belgian police believe the group was already in the container by the time it arrived in Belgium. | Essex police are working with their counterparts in Belgium to track down the driver of the container and the company that owns it. Belgian police believe the group was already in the container by the time it arrived in Belgium. |
| Peter De Waele, a spokesman for the federal police in Belgium, said it appeared to be impossible for the 35 people to be loaded into the container in the time it was at Zeebrugge, a port in the north of the country. | |
| He said investigators had been studying CCTV and were "very hopeful" that they could track down the driver and owner of the vehicle that deposited the container. | |
| De Waele told the Press Association that each container was captured on camera and their seals were subject to "very strict" controls. | De Waele told the Press Association that each container was captured on camera and their seals were subject to "very strict" controls. |
| "We saw that this container was there for one hour in all, in an area where there are a lot of cameras, a lot of people and a lot of cars driving. It was around 6pm so it wasn't dark," he said. "We think that the possibility [is that] the victims were already on the container before it was put down in Zeebrugge because in that area it is rather impossible to put 35 people in that container." | |
| De Waele declined to confirm whether detectives had already identified the vehicle that delivered the container. | De Waele declined to confirm whether detectives had already identified the vehicle that delivered the container. |
| But he added: "My colleagues told me that they were very hopeful looking at the pictures that they [could] find the company and also the driver who put the container in Zeebrugge. It is too early to say the driver is involved, but when we find the driver we can work backwards." | |
| De Waele said tackling human trafficking was a priority in Belgium. Four years ago a series of trials in Belgium revealed a sophisticated people-smuggling network that charged hundreds of Punjabi men some €20,000 (£16,000) to travel to Belgium via Moscow on forged visas. From Brussels they were hidden on lorries bound for the Channel tunnel. | De Waele said tackling human trafficking was a priority in Belgium. Four years ago a series of trials in Belgium revealed a sophisticated people-smuggling network that charged hundreds of Punjabi men some €20,000 (£16,000) to travel to Belgium via Moscow on forged visas. From Brussels they were hidden on lorries bound for the Channel tunnel. |
| Police have set up a hotline for anyone concerned about relatives. The numbers are 0800 056 0944 or 0207 158 0010 if dialling from outside the UK. | Police have set up a hotline for anyone concerned about relatives. The numbers are 0800 056 0944 or 0207 158 0010 if dialling from outside the UK. |