BRITISH POLICE FIND 39 BODIES IN TRUCK CONTAINER

GRAYS, ENGLAND—BRITISH police found the bodies of 39 people inside a truck believed to have come from Bulgaria at an industrial estate to the east of London on Wednesday and said they had arrested the driver on suspicion of murder.

The discovery was made in the early hours after emergency services were alerted to people in the truck container, on a gritty industrial site in Grays, about 32.1 kilometers from central London.

The truck was thought to have entered Britain at Holyhead, a North Wales port that is a major entry point for traffic from Ireland, on Saturday and to have originally started its journey in Bulgaria, police said. The driver of the truck, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, was in custody.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was appalled.

“I am receiving regular updates and the Home Office will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened,” Johnson said on Twitter. “My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives & their loved ones.”

All those in the container, 38 adults and one teenager, were pronounced dead at the scene after the emergency services were called to the Waterglade Industrial Park, not far from docks on the River Thames.

For years, illegal immigrants have attempted to reach Britain stowed away in the back of trucks, often seeking to reach the United Kingdom from the European mainland.