UK media: 39 people found dead in truck are Chinese

LONDON — British media are reporting that the 39 people found dead in the back of a truck in southeastern England were Chinese citizens.

Britain’s Press Association cited sources in its report Thursday. The BBC, ITV, and Sky also cited sources in releasing the same information.

British police on Thursday also raided two sites in Northern Ireland and questioned a truck driver as officers investigate the death of the 38 adults and one teenager. The victims were found Wednesday in a truck container at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of London on the River Thames.

Police forensic officers attend the scene after a truck was found to contain a large number of dead bodies, in Thurrock, South England, Wednesday, October 23, 2019. Police in southeastern England said that 39 people were found dead Wednesday inside a truck container believed to have come from Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said it is clear that the container in which 39 people were found dead had come through the North Sea port of Zeebrugge.

In a statement, the office said the container was only a short time at the port before it went across the sea to the English town of Purfleet.

The statement said it appears the container arrived in Zeebrugge on October 22 at 2:49 p.m. local time (1249 GMT), and “left the port the same day in the afternoon.”

Cooling containers often move swiftly through Zeebrugge, often just with a visual check, for the short crossing to England.

A National Crime Agency assessment report on serious and organized crime last year said there was a “greater focus” on rising smuggler numbers in Belgium after the closure of the Dunkirk migrant camp in 2017. /kga

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39 people found dead in truck container in southeast England