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AT LEAST 13 freezing UK-bound migrants have been rescued after locking themselves inside a refrigerated lorry heading for London.
The horror unfolded on Saturday morning when the migrants – many of them minors – broke into the truck at the Saint-Hilaire-Cottes rest area on the A26 motorway, 45 miles from Calais, northern France.
The Eritreans forced open the back door, and then climbed inside, while the driver was sleeping.
He was carrying cherry tomatoes from Morocco to England, and was exhausted after his long drive.
Within a few hours, the Eritreans were struggling with the extreme cold – but had locked themselves in the truck.
A source said: “Another driver who was in the rest area heard banging inside the truck early on Saturday afternoon.
“The people inside were desperate by this time – they were shouting and screaming, but all the sounds were extremely muffled.”
Emergency services including paramedics arrived on the scene at around 3pm on Saturday, together with 10 gendarmes.
All of those in the lorry were initially evacuated to a field hospital.
And then four were rushed to emergency wards in Arras and Saint-Omer, suffering from a range of conditions, including hypothermia.
Adult member of the groups were later interrogated by police, while the minors were taken into the care of social services officials, and a charity that specialises in migrant minors.
Christian Vedelago, the chief of staff of the Pas-de-Calais prefect, said: “Their hypothermic state suggests that they had been there for several hours.”
In 2019, 39 Vietnamese nationals – eight women and 31 males, including two boys – were found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Grays, Essex.
The trailer they were in and had been shipped from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Purfleet, Essex.
Eleven defendants were later convicted of crimes related to the deaths in the UK, while a further 19 were imprisoned in Belgium.
And in 2000, 58 Chinese migrants were found dead inside a Dutch truck in Dover.
The vehicle had transported its human cargo across the English Channel from Belgium.
The driver of the lorry was later sentenced to 14 years in prison for manslaughter, and for playing a part in an organised people smuggling gang.
Nine Chinese men were also jailed in Hollande for the part they played in causing the 58 deaths.
Small boats are mainly used to transport migrants across the Channel to England, but many attempts are still being made to smuggle them inside lorries.
France accused of making a mockery of ‘one-in, one-out’ migrant deal
by Emily-Jane Heap
FRENCH authorities have been accused of making a mockery of the “one-in, one-out” migrant deal after letting an unsafe dinghy reach UK waters.
A search-and-rescue ship was deployed near Calais on Thursday after a small boat was detected to be in distress.
French rescuers recovered 15 migrants but let the rest carry on toward Britain.
The RNLI picked up the others.
It came two days after the new migrant swaps deal with Paris began.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “The French should not be allowing a badly damaged boat to continue on its journey – this is incredibly dangerous.
“It is incredibly irresponsible for French authorities to allow these dangerous boats to cross.
“This makes a mockery of the migrant deal announced last week.
“If the French were serious about ending this dangerous and illegal route they would be stopping these boats at sea.”
France’s maritime prefect of the Channel insists their authorities cannot force migrants to be rescued due to the risk of them falling overboard if their dinghy capsizes.
Chris Philp added: “Labour’s deal with France will allow 94 per cent of illegal arrivals to stay in the UK. Earlier this week, I went to the Channel to see for myself if the deal was deterring any crossings. It wasn’t.
“We found two boats full of illegal immigrants in half an hour and they were escorted to UK waters by the French.”
