London: The group of people found inside a shipping container at Tilbury Docks are Sikhs from Afghanistan, revealed the Essex Police on Sunday.
Staff at the British port, east of London on Saturday discovered one dead man and 34 others alive after hearing banging and screaming coming from the container.
The survivors were nine men and eight women aged between 18 and 72, and 13 children aged between one and 12. All the survivors were taken to nearby hospitals to be treated for hypothermia and dehydration.
Using interpreters, police intend interviewing the survivors to pin down how they came to be found in such circumstances. “The welfare and health of the people is our priority at this stage,” said Superintendent Trevor Roe, Essex police. “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.”
The Red Cross provided food and welfare for the group overnight on Saturday, and the Border Force will take care of them once officials have finished questioning them.
A post-mortem of the man who died was being conducted Sunday while forensics experts were examining the container, though none of the survivors are under suspicion.
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