Just over two weeks after the discovery of 39 bodies in a refrigerated truck near London, the British police have discovered 15 people alive in a truck. A man was arrested on suspicion of illegal entry, according to police in Wiltshire, southwest England.
Security forces have been alerted by an eyewitness who has "noticed suspicious activity involving a truck" on the A350 highway near Chippenham, the police said. As a result, volunteers discovered the 15 people. All are apparently older than 16 years. A human was taken to a clinic for further investigation. To the origin the police did not give information.
On October 23, the bodies of 31 men and 8 women were discovered in a truck in Grays east of London. They are probably from Vietnam. In the Southeast Asian country, eight alleged members of a smuggling ring were arrested. The truck driver is charged with manslaughter and trafficking in the UK and two suspected brothers are being sought for the same allegations. The three men are from Northern Ireland.
Not the first case of this kind in the UK
In the investigation, it was a problem that relatives of the victims themselves might live illegally in the UK and were afraid to report to the police. One official asserted that his agency would not prosecute anyone who contacted the police on the matter. In the days following the disaster, potential relatives had approached British media with some shocking accounts.
It's not the first case of its kind in the UK: In 2000, British customs officials in Dover found the bodies of 58 Chinese in a tomato van. The case is considered the heaviest refugee tragedy in the country.
In Austria, three years ago, 71 refugees died on the way to Germany in a refrigerated lorry. The parked truck with the bodies of the refugees was found on 27 August 2015 on a motorway in Austria. The vehicle had left the day before in southern Hungary.