Belgian police have discovered 12 men alive in a refrigerated lorry near the Flemish town of Oud-Turnhout, a week after 39 people were found dead in a similar vehicle in Essex. The migrants, 11 Syrians and one Sudanese citizen, were found in the early hours of Wednesday after the lorry driver alerted authorities.
Police spokeswoman Sarah Frederickx told VRT that the driver suspected people were in his refrigerated lorry. The men were found safe and sound. The discovery comes amid heightened concern over migrant smuggling routes through continental Europe to the UK.
The incident follows the deaths of 39 people in a refrigerated lorry in Essex, which had travelled via the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. Lorry drivers are increasingly reluctant to drive to the UK due to fines of £2,000 per illicit passenger found onboard, according to industry group Febetra.
Isabelle De Maegt, head of Febetra, told RTBF that drivers heading to England face growing dangers of migrants boarding their vehicles. She noted that migrants choose refrigerated lorries believing they are less likely to be detected, and called for secure, sealed parking areas with cameras along routes to the UK.
Separately, Belgian police detained 28 people at Antwerp station on Monday night in an operation targeting people smugglers. Those detained included 27 men and a woman from Eritrea, Sudan, and Ethiopia, with 11 claiming to be under 18. They had travelled from Brussels and were believed to be heading to the UK.
