LONDON: The frail survivors found inside a shipping container at a British port at the weekend following a “horrific ordeal” are Sikhs from Afghanistan, police said yesterday.
One man was found dead in the container, and 34 men, women and children — all suffering from severe dehydration and hypothermia — were found still alive Saturday after staff at Tilbury Docks, east of London, heard banging and screaming coming from inside.
All the survivors were taken to nearby hospitals, where four remain, and the local Sikh community has been helping with their religious and clothing needs.
Using interpreters, police intend to interview the survivors to pin down how they came to be found in such circumstances.
The container had arrived by truck at Zeebrugge seaport in Belgium around 12 hours before the people inside were discovered at Tilbury, having crossed the North Sea on a ferry.
They may have been inside the container for several hours before that. “The welfare and health of the people is our priority at this stage,” said superintendent Trevor Roe, of the local 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.
“We now understand that they are from Afghanistan and are of the Sikh faith.
“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.”
Thirty of them have been released from hospital, and the remaining four were likely to be discharged later yesterday.
The Red Cross provided food and welfare for them overnight Saturday. The Border Force will take care of them once officials have finished questioning them.
Because a body was found, police have launched a homicide investigation.
AFP
