Four arrested after 68 stowaways found at Essex port

Seven of the 68 people inside the lorries were taken to hospital, including two pregnant women, after being discovered at Harwich International Port. They have since been released from hospital.

15 children were among those found. The stowaways included 35 Afghan nationals, 22 Chinese, 10 people from Vietnam and one Russian. They were found after Border Force officials searched the vehicle which had arrived from Holland.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Four Polish nationals, who were driving the vehicles, have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.

“They have been taken to separate police stations and will now be questioned by the Home Office’s criminal investigations team while inquiries continue.”

Th East of England Ambulance Service was called to the port at 10pm on Thursday.

“The patients who were taken to hospital were suffering from abdominal and chest pains and were feeling faint,” a spokesperson said. “None are in a life-threatening or serious condition.

“The remaining 61 were released to the UK Border Agency officials.”

It echoes a similar incident in August last year when 35 Afghan nationals were found in a container at Tilbury docks in Essex. One of the Afghans, Sing Kapoor, was found dead in the container at Tilbury docks.

The rest of the migrants, including 13 children, survived.

On Thursday night Channel 4 News reported from each of the staging posts on the route journey taken by desperate migrants from the north of Africa to Europe. See the videos below.