39 bodies found in Essex lorry container

[Dennis Donovan]

(yeah, that's not your everyday headline)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-50150070?ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central&ns_mchannel=social

Police say 39 bodies found in lorry container in Essex - driver has been arrested

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

[irisblue]

1. Updated story.

1:40 BST is 8:40 pm NYC I think

"Police were called by the ambulance service shortly before 01:40 BST after the discovery at Waterglade Industrial Park in Eastern Avenue, Grays.

The lorry driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Early indications are that 38 adults and one teenager have died, Essex Police said.

The force said the lorry came from Bulgaria and entered the country via Holyhead on Saturday."
people trying to get to a better life.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Extremely effed up...

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I think it's more likely to be people smuggling for sex workers or other illegal activities

The lorry crossed all of England and Wales from its port of entry on the Irish Sea. I don't think free people would have stayed in such a dangerous situation once they'd got into the target country. This was a planned route the long way round, from Bulgaria via Ireland, and ending up close to London. Unless they'd all died by the time the lorry got to Holyhead, and the driver though he had some way of disposing of the bodies.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Turns out the tractor unit came in through Holyhead; the trailer came from Belgium

to a port very close to where it was found (and under 2 hours earlier).

Originally, Essex police reported that the lorry had travelled into the country through Holyhead on Saturday 19 October.

But in a subsequent update, the force said it now believed that the trailer – the rear section of the vehicle – travelled from Zeebrugge into Purfleet, and docked in the Thurrock area shortly after 12:30am on Wednesday morning. The tractor unit of the lorry – the smaller section at the front of the vehicle – is believed to have originated in Northern Ireland. The lorry and trailer left the port shortly after 1.05am.

On Wednesday afternoon the Bulgarian ministry of foreign affairs said the truck was registered in the coastal town of Varna. It was registered under the name of a company owned by a female Irish citizen, Reuters reported.
...
Police officers were called by the ambulance service shortly before 1.40am on Wednesday after the discovery of the container with people inside at the industrial park in Eastern Avenue.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/23/driver-arrested-after-39-bodies-found-in-lorry-container-in-essex

So my comment about them being forced into it above doesn't apply - it could be any clandestine immigration operation without a care for the lives.

[Soph0571]

3. Smugglers

People are going to be going to prison for a very long time

[underpants]

4. How horrible

[wendyb-NC]

6. So, so sad.

Heartbreaking, hope shattering end in the struggle for a better life/ survival.