Rescued immigrants being supported

THE immigrants rescued from a shipping container are Sikhs who are understood to be from Afghanistan and include 13 children, some as young as one, it has emerged.

The 35-strong group’s arrival at the Port of Tilbury on Saturday prompted an international investigation after one man died.

Superintendent Trevor Roe, of Essex Police, said: “The welfare and health of the people is our priority at this stage.

“Now t hey are well enough, our officers and colleagues from the Border Force will be speaking to SUPT TREVOR ROE: ‘Welfare the priority’ for the rescued. them via interpreters so we can piece together what happened and how they came to be in the container.

“We now understand that they are from Afghanistan and are of the Sikh faith.

“We have had a good deal of help from partners within the local Sikh community in the Tilbury area to ensure that these poor people, who would have been through a horrific ordeal, are supported in terms of their religious and clothing needs.”

A post-mortem examination into the man’s death was being conducted yesterday while the container in question was being forensically examined.

Thirty of the 35-strong group found screaming and banging at the port were being quizzed by officials last night after being released from hospital.

The company which owns the container has not been named.

Belgian police earlier indicated that they believe the immigrants were probably already inside when it was dropped at a European port before setting s ail f or Britain.

The container was one of around 50 on board the P&O Ferries commercial vessel the Norstream.

The immigrants were rescued after port authorities heard noises from inside at 6.30am on Saturday.