Update: Truck Drivers Arrested following Harwich Discovery

Sixty-eight immigrants that were initially reported to had been discovered in a shipping container at Harwich International Port on Thursday during a routine check by the border police have actually been found in trucks.

Namely, the 68 individuals arrived at the port on trucks that had boarded the Stena Hollandica ferry which sailed from the Hook of Holland.

The group that is comprised of people from various nationalities included two pregnant women who were sent to a Colchester General Hospital with other five people complaining of abdominal and chest pains. Fifteen of the smuggled people were children.

The remaining immigrants were handed over to the UK Border Agency.

The drivers of the Polish trucks were arrested under suspicion that they were involved in the smuggling of immigrants.

However, following a two-day long questioning they were released on bail, writes the Belfast Telegraph.

“This is an ongoing problem for all international hauliers using ferry services to UK, severely disrupting many routes. Smuggling immigrants via shipping containers is clearly far more dangerous but thankfully much less frequent,” said UK-based shipping, freight forwarding and logistics specialist Grange Shipping.

World Maritime News Staff; Image: Port of Harwich