The discovery of the bodies – 38 adults and one teenager – was made in the early hours after emergency services were alerted to people in a truck container on a gritty industrial site in Grays, about 20 miles (32 km) east of central London.
The truck was thought to have entered Britain at Holyhead, a North Wales port that is a major entry point for traffic from Ireland, on Saturday and to have originally started its journey in Bulgaria, police said. The driver of the truck, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, was in custody.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was appalled by the news and was receiving regular updates about the investigation.
“We know that this trade is going on – all such traders in human beings should be hunted down and brought to justice,” he said.
All those in the container were pronounced dead at the scene after the emergency services were called to the Waterglade Industrial Park, not far from docks on the River Thames.
Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said had been in contact with the British authorities over the incident.
“At present, it has not yet been confirmed whether the truck has a Bulgarian registration,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. “There is also no indication of the nationality of the human bodies found in the truck. British police have warned that the identification of the bodies will take a long time.”
“DESPERATE AND DANGEROUS SITUATION”
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Irish authorities would carry out any investigations necessary if it was established that the truck had passed through Ireland.
Police officers in forensic suits were inspecting a large white container on a red truck next to warehouses at the site. Police had sealed off the surrounding area of the estate with large green barriers as they carried out their investigation.
“At this stage, we have not identified where the victims are from or their identities and we anticipate this could be a lengthy process,” Essex Police Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills told reporters. “This is an absolute tragedy.”
Mills said finding out who the victims were was their top priority, while a key line of inquiry was determining the truck’s route from Bulgaria to Ireland and then onto Britain.
Nearby businesses said they had been unable to gain access to their units on the site due to the large police cordon.
“The police came in the night – they have closed the whole area,” said a worker at a nearby cafe, who declined to give his name.
For years, illegal immigrants have attempted to reach Britain stowed away in the back of trucks, often seeking to reach the United Kingdom from the European mainland.
In Britain’s biggest illegal immigrant tragedy in 2000, customs officials found the bodies of 58 Chinese people crammed into a tomato truck at the southern port of Dover.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the latest deaths were an unbelievable human tragedy that needed answers.
“Can we just think for a moment of what it must have been like for those 39 people, obviously in a desperate and dangerous situation, for their lives to end, suffocated to death in a container,” he said.
Writing by Michael Holden; Additional reporting by William Schomberg and Kate Holton in London and Angel Krasimirov in Sofia; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Alex Richardson
Investigators are working to track the truck’s movements
Part of the line of inquiry for UK authorities is working out where the truck came from and how it ended up in an industrial park east of London.
Local police have said that they believe the truck originated from Bulgaria and that it entered Britain through the Welsh port of Holyhead over the weekend. A regular ferry service connects Holyhead with the Irish capital of Dublin.
“If the lorry came from Bulgaria, getting into Britain via Holyhead is an unorthodox route,” Seamus Leheny, Northern Ireland policy manager for the Freight Transport Association (FTA) told PA news agency.
“People have been saying that security and checks have been increased a places like Dover and Calais, so it might be seen as an easier way to get in by going from Cherbourg or Roscoff, over to Rosslare, then up the road to Dublin.
“It’s a long way around and it’ll add an extra day to the journey,” Leheny added.
Local lawmaker tweets reaction to tragic incident
Following the discovery of 39 bodies inside a truck container in southeast England, local lawmaker Jackie Doyle-Price called the situation “sickening” in a tweet on Wednesday morning.
Sickening news of 39 people found dead in a container in Grays. People trafficking is a vile and dangerous business. This is a big investigation for @EssexPoliceUK Lets hope they bring these murderers to justice
— Jackie Doyle-Price (@JackieDP) October 23, 2019
Coming up: Police statement
Essex Police deputy chief constable Pippa Mills will be reading a statement on the incident at 11:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET) at Grays police station, according to department’s press office.
UK PM “receiving regular updates” on progress of investigation into truck deaths
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was “appalled” by the death of 39 people in the back of a truck in Essex, southeast England.
I’m appalled by this tragic incident in Essex. I am receiving regular updates and the Home Office will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened. My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives & their loved ones.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 23, 2019
Here’s the full statement from UK officials on deaths inside lorry
UK Police have issued a statement after the discovery of 39 bodies inside a truck container in southeast England on Wednesday morning.
UK Home Secretary “shocked” by container deaths
British Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a tweet Wednesday she was “shocked and saddened” by the incident in southeast England, where 39 people have been found dead in the back of a truck, including one teenager.
Shocked & saddened by this utterly tragic incident in Grays. Essex Police has arrested an individual and we must give them the space to conduct their investigations.
— Priti Patel MP (@patel4witham) October 23, 2019
39 bodies found dead inside a truck container in southeast England
UK authorities have launched a murder investigation in southeast England after 39 people — including a teenager — were found dead in a truck container at an Essex industrial park.
Officials are following a working theory that the vehicle originally came from Bulgaria and entered the UK over the weekend.
“We are in the process of identifying the victims, however I anticipate that this could be a lengthy process,” Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner said in a statement.
A 25-year-old Northern Irish truck driver has been arrested “on suspicion of murder,” Essex Police have said.