35 people found trapped in shipping container at British port; 1 dead
British police reported finding 35 people trapped inside a shipping container at a port near London on Saturday, including a man who was pronounced dead at the scene. The others, believed to be from South Asia, were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The victims, who included women and children, were discovered at the Port of Tilbury on the River Thames east of London, about an hour after the ship carrying the container docked, according to a news release from the Essex Police.
The identity of the man who died was not immediately available, and it was not clear how the victims came to be in the container. The police statement said those trapped inside were believed to be from the “Indian subcontinent.”
Of those hospitalized, several were being treated for “significant health problems” but did not appear to be seriously ill.
Essex Police Superintendent Trevor Roe told the BBC that dockworkers found the group after hearing “screaming and banging” emanating from inside the container.
The ship had come from Zeebrugge, Belgium, according to the BBC.
Police searched 50 other containers on the ship and found no other people inside them.
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