Sixty-eight immigrants found in Harwich International port lorries
- 16 minutes ago
- Essex
Sixty-eight suspected illegal immigrants, including two pregnant women and 15 children, have been found inside four lorries at a port in Essex.
They were found during routine Border Force checks at Harwich International Port at about 22:00 BST on Thursday.
Thirty-five people from Afghanistan, 22 from China, 10 from Vietnam and one Russian were discovered.
Four Polish lorry drivers have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.
Chest pains
They are now being questioned, the Home Office confirmed.
A Home Office spokesman said the stowaways were found inside four separate lorries rather than in one container as initially reported.
The pregnant women were among seven people taken to Colchester Hospital as a precaution after they reported abdominal and chest pains.
Their conditions are described as non life-threatening.
A spokeswoman for Stena Line, the operator of the Stena Hollandica ferry which transported the lorries, said the service left the Hook of Holland at 14:15 BST on Thursday.
It is not yet clear where the lorries had been before sailing to Harwich.
The ship arrived at the Essex port at 19:45 BST.
A Home Office spokesman said the stowaways were found "during a proactive search" of four lorries by Border Force officers.
Stena Line confirmed all 68 immigrants were in the care of Border Force at Harwich Port. It is believed those not seeking asylum will be sent home.
Last August, one man died when 35 Afghan Sikh migrants were found in acontainer at Tilbury Docks.
They were discovered after dock workers heard banging and screaming coming from one of the containers.
Matthew Broad, from the East of England Ambulance Service, said there appeared to be a "similar pattern" to Thursday's incident.
"We have experience of dealing with this in Essex, and one of the things we were concerned about was the length of time they'd been in there."
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