39 dead in Brit truck

Driver held in human-trafficking horror after gruesome discovery

The shocking discovery of 39 bodies in the back of a truck in England has rattled the country, as the driver was taken into custody on suspicion of murder in what appears to be a human-trafficking case.

Medics made the gruesome discovery around 1:40 a.m. local time about 25 miles east of central London. Authorities believe the truck originated in Bulgaria.

“To put 39 people into a locked metal container shows a contempt for human life that is evil,” Jackie DoylePrice, a member of Parliament who represents the area where the truck was found, told The Associated Press. “The best thing we can do in memory of those victims is to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”

The victims, found in a truck parked on the side of the road, included one teenager. The others were adults. No causes of death have been made public.

“This is a tragic incident where a large number of people have lost lives. Our inquiries are ongoing to establish what happened,”

Essex Police Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner said. “We are in the process of identifying the victims now. However, I anticipate that this could be a lengthy process.”

The driver is a 25-year-old resident of Northern Ireland. Authorities have not released his identity, but several U.K. outlets named him as Mo

Robinson from Portadown.

A Facebook page bearing the name, which features photos of a man standing near and inside large trucks, lists his profession as a truck driver.

Authorities initially believed the truck entered Britain on Saturday through the U.K. port of Holyhead, North Wales. But Essex police later said they suspect the trailer containing the victims went through Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purlfeet in England, where it arrived Wednesday.

“We have no idea at the moment how long the lorry [truck] spent in Belgium,” Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Van Duyse told the AP. “It could be hours or days. We just don’t know.”

The cargo truck has a Bulgarian registration, though authorities there have not confirmed whether it is where the vehicle began its journey.

“We are in contact with our embassy in London and with British authorities,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tsvetana Krateva.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a tweet said he was “appalled by the tragic incident in Essex.”