UK - 39 bodies found in lorry, Essex, 23 October 2019

[HayLouise]

14:22

Jeremy Corbyn pays tribute to emergency services

During PMQs today, leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn said: “Can we just think for a moment of what it must have been like for those 39 people, obviously in a desperate and dangerous situation, for their lives to end, suffocated to death in a container?”

He also paid an “enormous” tribute to the emergency services, adding: “All of us should just think about what it is like to be a police officer or firefighter, to open that container to remove 39 bodies from it and deal with them in an appropriate and humane way.”

Live updates as NI man arrested after 39 bodies found in lorry

 

[HayLouise]

14:36KEY EVENT

What we know 12 hours after 39 people found dead in 'chiller lorry'

Forensics at the scene at the Waterglade Industrial Estate in Thurrock (Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
The eyes of the world’s media are on Grays today, where 39 people, one of whom may have been a teenager, were found dead in a lorry container.

A mass murder investigation was launched after the shocking discovery in the back of a suspected chiller truck, which may have been as cold as -25C.

Read the full story here.

Live updates as NI man arrested after 39 bodies found in lorry

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Is it possible they got to NI and discovered the bodies so were going to try and dump them in Essex, or maybe even back across the Channel?

I've no idea... trying to put myself in the mind of the trucker trying to smuggle people into the UK! Why didn't he turf them out in the depths of Wales somewhere, instead of heading somewhere really busy. Did he know they were already dead?

 

[HayLouise]

14:38

Priti Patel: A 'truly shocking incident'

Home Secretary and MP for Witham Priti Patel spoke in the House of Commons to say that her officials are working with Essex Police to ascertain what has happened.

She said: “I think the whole house will agree that this is a truly shocking incident.

“My thoughts and condolences are with the victims and their loved ones in this utterly terrible time.

“I am sure the whole house will also convey their condolences in this sad time.

“While the nationalities of the victims are not yet known, I have asked my officials to work closely with the investigation, providing all the assistance they can in this horrific case.

“Mr Speaker, this is a tragic loss of life and I and everyone in my team will continue to update the house as more facts of this dreadful incident become known.”

Live updates as NI man arrested after 39 bodies found in lorry

 

[HayLouise]

Anna Turley MP
@annaturley

In the chamber just now to hear the statement about the dreadful incident in Essex. Just inconceivable. Those poor souls. And my heart goes out to all our emergency services who had to deal with such a horrific situation.

Anna Turley MP on Twitter

 

[jamjim]

Posted at 14:3914:39
Lorry may have travelled via 'easier' route of Cherbourg
Essex Police have said investigators believe the lorry had come from Bulgaria.

Speculating on the route the lorry may have taken, the chief executive of the British Road Haulage Association, Richard Burnett, said it could have travelled on a ferry from Cherbourg in northern France to Rosslare in the Republic of Ireland, before driving to Dublin to get a ferry to Wales.

He said it was "highly unlikely" the vehicle would have been physically checked if it had come from Europe.

"Because of the migrant issue at Dover and Calais, you've got far more checks that are taking place there," he said.

"You've got heartbeat monitors, you've got dogs, you've got CO2. Those checks are done as you drive through.

"Cherbourg, because it's a low-volume port, you probably won't have the same security measures that they have in Coquelles [Eurotunnel terminal] or Calais.

"If this is somebody trying to smuggle a significant number of people through then maybe Cherbourg has been picked because it's a little easier to get through."

 

[HayLouise]

23 October 2019

Family of NI lorry driver arrested in mass murder probe 'don't know what's going on'

Family of the Northern Ireland lorry driver arrested in Essex following the discovery of 39 bodies onboard are in the dark about what is happening.


Speaking from the 25-year-old’s Co Armagh home his partner’s visibly shaken brother said they hadn’t “heard from him” and “don’t know what is going on”.


A woman with him to collect clothes and dogs from the house added that they didn’t wish to comment at this stage.

When asked if the young dad-to-be was working for a haulage firm or alone, they said that they didn’t know.

Family of NI lorry driver arrested in murder probe 'don't know what's going on'

 

[Medstudies]

13:03

"It is a tragic event"

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex Roger Hirst has tweeted saying that it is important that the police have “space and time” to conduct their investigations.

He tweeted:

The death of 39 people in a container in Thurrock is a tragic event.

We must think of the victims, their loved ones and families.

It is important that the police have the space and time to conduct a thorough investigation, so that they all can have justice.

Live updates as NI man arrested after 39 bodies found in lorry

I really want to fix that tweet to read:

The death of 39 people in a container in Thurrock is a tragic and INFURIATING event.

We must think of the victims, their loved ones and families and the investigators who are tasked with dealing with the trauma of the clean up and aftermath...

This is sickening

 

[HayLouise]

Essex lorry map: Where was lorry? Were children in lorry? Bulgaria lorry route - revealed

 

[jamjim]

39 bodies found in a lorry container in Essex

"A witness said the lorry had been in the industrial estate for at least about 12 hours before police were called.

Andy Larkin, manager at Bronze Mechanical Handling, a nearby mechanics company, said he saw the lorry on Tuesday at about 2pm when he walked to meet a customer.

He told The Independent: “What made me notice it is it had those big chrome American exhaust pipes. The curtains in the cab were closed, as though the driver was asleep in there.

“Until about a month ago, there was a refrigeration company there and you used to get loads of lorries from all over Europe parked around there waiting to get in.

“It wouldn’t have looked out of place when that was open. But it’s unusual for them to be there now. That’s road is usually empty, apart from cars.”

Mr Larkin said he was reviewing footage from his CCTV cameras."

 

[HayLouise]

15:36

Vigil planned outside the Home Office in London

Campaigners have called for a vigil to take place in solidarity with the victims outside the Home Office in London tomorrow.

It comes after 39 people were tragically found dead in a lorry container in the Waterglade Industrial Park in Thurrock.

Claire Moseley, from Care4Calais, said: “We are horrified to hear of the deaths of 39 vulnerable and exploited people, but not surprised.

“The lack of safe legal routes for people to apply for asylum means that every day people who are simply seeking safety undertake dangerous journeys.

“It has become near impossible for people to come to the UK in a safe way.”

Live updates as NI man arrested after 39 bodies found in lorry

 

[jamjim]

Posted at 15:44
How many migrants have died in transit?

The number of migrants who die in transit has been recorded by the UN since 2014.

Since then, five bodies of suspected migrants have been found in lorries or containers in the UK:

2014: An Afghan migrant was found dead at Tilbury Docks, Essex.He was in a shipping container, with 34 Afghans who survived
2015: Two migrants were found dead in a wooden crate in a warehouse in Branston, Staffordshire. The crate had been sent from Italy
2016: An 18-year-old migrant was crushed while clinging to the underside of a lorry in Banbury, Oxfordshire
2016: A body was found in the back of a lorry in Kent, which had travelled from France
Data was not collected in the same way before 2014, but such deaths are not new.

In 2000, 58 Chinese migrants were found suffocated to death in a lorry at Dover.

In 2015, the bodies of 71 people were found in an abandoned lorry on an Austrian motorway. Police suspected the vehicle was part of a human trafficking operation based in Bulgaria and Hungary.

39 bodies found in Essex container: Latest updates - BBC News

 

[jamjim]

Posted at 15:50
Bulgaria 'shocked by the terrifying news'
Essex Police believe the lorry comes from Bulgaria and that country's foreign minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, has tweeted: "Shocked by the terrifying news of the tragic incident in Essex.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families and friends. Hope the case is resolved quickly. Strongly condemn the human trafficking and smuggling!"

39 bodies found in Essex container: Latest updates - BBC News

 

[HayLouise]

15:47

The latest from the scene as "police prepare to move lorry", it is alleged

Live updates as NI man arrested after 39 bodies found in lorry

 

[HayLouise]

15:47KEY EVENT

Inside the cordon where 39 people were found dead in 'chiller lorry'

The latest photos from Thurrock show inside the police cordon where 39 people were found dead in a lorry container.

A mass murder investigation has been launched after the shocking discovery was made in the back of a suspected chiller lorry during the early hours of this morning (Wednesday, October 23).

Both police and paramedics were called to the scene at the Waterglade Industrial Estate in Eastern Avenue at around 1.40am.

See the photos here.

Live updates as NI man arrested after 39 bodies found in lorry

 

[Medstudies]

23 October 2019

Family of NI lorry driver arrested in mass murder probe 'don't know what's going on'

Family of the Northern Ireland lorry driver arrested in Essex following the discovery of 39 bodies onboard are in the dark about what is happening.


Speaking from the 25-year-old’s Co Armagh home his partner’s visibly shaken brother said they hadn’t “heard from him” and “don’t know what is going on”.


A woman with him to collect clothes and dogs from the house added that they didn’t wish to comment at this stage.

When asked if the young dad-to-be was working for a haulage firm or alone, they said that they didn’t know.

Family of NI lorry driver arrested in murder probe 'don't know what's going on'

From the article “...The load, understood to have originated in Bulgaria, is believed to have been picked up in Belfastbefore being driven to Dublin before being ferried to Holyhead, Wales and driven to Essex.”

I’m not sure if I’m understanding this correctly? It sounds as if maybe there was another driver from Bulgaria to Belfast?

Anyway, I’m just aghast, it’s refrigerated for crying out loud. It would be pretty airtight to keep perishables in compliance during transport.

Or in other words: a friggin’ death trap

 

[jamjim]

CCTV shows Essex lorry minutes before 39 people found dead inside

"CCTV footage has emerged of a lorry driving towards an Essex industrial estate minutes before 39 bodies were found inside.

The images were taken at 1.10am and show the vehicle just around the corner from where the discovery was made a short time later at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays,

Essex Police were called at 1.40am and arrested the driver - a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland."

 

[jamjim]

Posted at 15:59
BREAKING Lorry 'travelled from Belgium to Essex this morning'
Essex Police said earlier today that it was thought the vehicle had entered the British mainland via Holyhead in north west Wales on Saturday.

But Reuters news agency is now reporting that UK police believe the lorry travelled from Zeebrugge in Belgium into Purfleet, which is near Grays in the Thurrock district of Essex, shortly after 00:30 this morning.

39 bodies found in Essex container: Latest updates - BBC News

 

[HayLouise]

David Blevins
@skydavidblevins

Sky sources: Police in Northern Ireland are providing assistance to their colleagues in Essex investigating the discovery of 39 bodies in a lorry this morning.

David Blevins on Twitter

David Blevins
@skydavidblevins

BREAKING: Sky sources - the 25-year-old arrested in relation to the discovery of 39 bodies in a lorry in Essex is Mo Robinson from near Portadown, County Armagh.

David Blevins on Twitter

 

[Medstudies]

Mo Robinson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

“Images from the scene show that the truck had stickers across the windscreen reading, “The Ultimate Dream” and “Ireland.” Robinson is being held on suspicion of murder. The truck is registered in Bulgaria by a company owned by an Irish female citizen, according to RTE News in Ireland. The company is based in the Bulgarian city of Varna.”

(My emphasis, and yet more like “the ultimate nightmare” or “the ultimate heartbreak”