Dover dead 'expelled from Belgium'

Footage of the group detained in Belgium last month

The 58 suspected Chinese illegal immigrants found dead in a lorry at Dover may have been thrown out of Belgium by the authorities in April, police have confirmed.

Belgian police said they detained a group of illegal immigrants fitting the description of the dead and ordered them to leave the country.

The group was not escorted and, it is thought, may have absconded.

Film footage of the group has been obtained by the BBC.

This was clearly an horrific death

Superintendent Dennis McGookin

There is no confirmation that these are the people found at Dover, but police in Belgium said they had passed the details on to Kent Police.

The group was found in the villages of Bornem and Puurs, about 15 miles south of Antwerp, on 16 April.

Frank van den Bulck, from the local police, said: "We found nine, then a group of 25, then another eight. By 8.50pm we had 43, and then at least 55. The number kept going up.

"From their papers, it was obviously the case of illegal people-trading."

Chinese families in Britain are preparing to travel to Dover to see if their relatives are among the dead.

The bodies were found in the early hours of Monday in the back of a sealed lorry, which arrived from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Appeal for help

According to initial tests they died from "respiratory failure".

Superintendent Dennis McGookin, who is leading the inquiry, also revealed that the 54 men and four women appeared to be in their early 20s and from the Fujian district of China.

He appealed to Chinese people in the UK and overseas for help in investigating how the people came to be in the lorry.

On Tuesday Dutch police arrested a person in connection with the case after searching three houses in Rotterdam on the behalf of UK authorities.

A further man wanted for questioning, a Dutch man named as Arjan Van der Spek, 24, who registered the lorry last Thursday, is being hunted by Dutch police after disappearing from his home.

The driver of the Dutch-registered vehicle continues to be questioned at a Kent police station on suspicion of manslaughter.

Two survivors are "comfortable" in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and have started telling police of their ordeal.

Survivors under guard

Speaking through a translator, they described the screams of the trapped passengers and how they banged on the door to try to escape. It is unclear if they have yet been told the extent of the death toll.

It is expected that they will be moved to an unnamed police facility. They are being guarded amid fears that criminal gangs may wish to silence them.

Superintendent McGookin promised a "very thorough, efficient investigation" and pledged that those responsible for smuggling the human cargo would be brought to justice. "This was clearly an horrific death," he added.

Sixty officers have been assigned to the case.

The UK police investigation has involved contact with the Chinese Embassy in London, police authorities in Beijing, and police officers in The Netherlands.

Three Dutch police officers have travelled to the UK to help with the investigation.

In Beijing, the Chinese Government expressed profound shock at the deaths and said it was in close contact with the UK Government.

Foreign Minister Zhu Bangzao said China was ready to work with other countries to stop "rampant" illegal immigration.

Anyone with information should ring Kent Police's casualty bureau on 0645 441551.