Britain Indicts 2 in Migrant Deaths
Two Chinese were ordered held by police Saturday, charged with conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants into Britain in connection with the deaths of 58 Chinese migrants in the sealed back compartment of a truck.
The victims--54 men and four women--suffocated after the airtight vehicle began a five-hour boat crossing from Belgium to the British port of Dover. Two male passengers survived.
Chef You Yi, 38, and a 29-year-old female interpreter, Ying Guo, appeared briefly Saturday before Dover magistrates. A second hearing was scheduled for Friday.
They are the third and fourth people charged in a case that has sparked international condemnation of the gangs that profit by smuggling people from Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa to the West.
The truck’s Dutch driver, Perry Wacker, 32, of Rotterdam, has been charged with 58 counts of manslaughter and was ordered Friday to be held in police custody.
In the Netherlands, police brought the trucking company’s owner, identified as Arie van der Spek, 24, to court Friday on migrant-trafficking charges.
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