Horrific news

I think any driver would have been aware of so many people in his truck. If he's been paid then it's murder with a capital M !
The delay in getting to Essex from Holyhead speaks volumes.

A terrible tragedy. I hope the authorities pull out all the stops to find and bring those responsible to justice.

Well start another thread then Jennifer on what can/ should be done and leave this thread to those who just want to express their sadness at the awful loss of life. For pity’s sake

Yes, it is politics.

Maybe somebody with more direct experience than I have could confirm. I believe commercial HGV drivers are legally responsible for their load. At the very least, the driver should have checked on the safety of what he was carrying for what must have been a journey of a few hours.

I'm too angry and upset to make any further comment.

What Jennifer says is true, the more crack downs there are at ports the better, the villains of the piece are the traffickers and they need to be stopped or more people will die, it’s as simple as that.
It’s natural to feel appalled by this incident ( and many others like it) but practical things need to be done, as emotion alone won’t solve anything.

I remember the law changing to put the onus on the driver of the lorry to check his load, and they can be prosecuted if they were lax.Of course if they had colluded in any way it would be manslaughter I would have thought.

If people had done the job they are paid to do, this lorry would have been properly checked and those people rescued.

It makes you wonder how many other lorries have actually got through with people inside and are now in this country illegally.

These poor poor victims are maybe the tip of the iceberg and if they had survived the journey of 4days, they would have disappeared without a trace and we would be none the wiser.

Someone somewhere is not doing their job properly or maybe they are involved with people smuggling and allowing lorries like these through all the checks.

Such a sad sad day.

Exactly lemongrove

People on here have understandably voiced their horror but that’s not enough is it? That isn’t solving the problem.

Is it the driver's responsibility? I don't want to be too quick to judge. He is from NI and I wonder (no expert) but does a sealed container come with paperwork which would allow it through without checks? The young driver could have done it in good faith if he didn't know what it contained. It is hard to believe that he knowingly drove such a cargo.

I'm not sure Nonnie. That's why I asked. The driver should at least have been told what was supposed to be in the truck. He should have known the load's weight and whether it was loaded correctly. Many years ago, I was very friendly with somebody who was doing HGV training and I know it was drummed into trainee drivers that they were responsible for their load. I expect we'll get some more details in due course, so speculation is premature.

I feel sickened, appalled and very sad. Surely this a mass murder? Putting people into a refrigerated container must make it premeditated? Anything could go wrong at any stage of the journey, whether it started in Northern Ireland, Bulgaria or much further afield. Everyone involved has some responsibility, but the main culprits are the traffickers who persuade vulnerable people to unknowingly risk their lives coming to a promised land. These scum of the earth will say and do anything for money. They treat human beings like a low level commodity. If there is a hell, I Hope they go to it.

Lemongrove, where my D works there is a terrible staff shortage and I imagine it's the same with other ports up and down the country and my D spends more time at work than enough because there are supposed to be females who do searches as well as males-----she's the only female ! As a consequence her time-off is infrequent.

Heat-seekers and cameras for underneath trucks are used but I imagine that nights have a skeleton staff working and it would take all night to search/check every vehicle and foot passenger.

Prit Patel should be made aware of these abysmal conditions in the ports if she wants to keep illegals out !!

The Industrial Estate where the lorry was found is 20 minutes up the road from our commuter village. Everyone here is appalled and the atmosphere in the shops is so somber.

We have several friends who's children are in the emergency services and they are dreading the call/text to say they are working on this.

This will continue until the monsters which are people traffickers are caught and severely punished including confiscating any monies made illegally as a deterrent to any other low life thinking its a quick way to make a few bob!!!

It’s one thing saying something needs to be done, it’s quite another thing to laud PP as the person to do it. As for who’s to blame for what, just for once we could wait for some facts. I just keep thinking of the manner of their deaths - some would almost certainly have survived longer than others, knowing what was coming and yet hoping against hope for rescue. Clawing at the sides of the container, maybe writing notes to loved ones, comforting each other. Poor poor people and now their families back wherever their homes were wondering what’s happened.

It doesn't bear thinking of what those poor souls suffered. I still keep crying at the thought.

When our government has refused to work with other nations in Europe to deal with the issue and Theresa May when at the home office encouraged hatred and distrust of people from foreign lands, this sort of thing is inevitable.

We sit on our hands and do nothing then raise them only to wash them. We really should be ashamed but as the howls of “unfair” or “it's not relevant” etc arises, it demonstrates that in our nation's heart we no longer care.

The bodies of babies washing up on shores, or drifting in seas or 60 British orphans living in a war zone, cause no real concern, just the occasional raised eyebrows.

They are not wanted here is the unvoiced view and so it is that we feed that obnoxious trade in people's lives; while we wring our hands in mock compassion.......... then once again wash blood off our collective hands

I know I should have had a greater understanding of this sort of thing but it's only since watching the excellent 'Years and Years' that the horrors of such events have become very real to me.

I am still in our offices at the moment but among all who work here we have been talking about this terrible happening. It would seem that the conditions for those that died in this horrific situation may have been far worse than anyone in their most awful dreams would not imagine.

It is being reported that the vehicle came directly from Bulgaria so it is highly likely that the immigrants boarded the trailer there. However, the driver then did not go directly to Dover which would have been the most direct route to South East England, but instead took a route and ferry crossing which involved Roscoff to Rosslare. It then must have travelled up through Ireland to board a second ferry from Dulin to Holyhead and then travelled from there to south east England.

The above would be a very unusual route putting days on the journey especially as the business is a one-person owner-driver operation. As far as I am aware it has not been stated if the trailer was loaded with any freight for the journey as no one in the Transport industry would run what is known as "empty mileage" over that length of journey as no revenue would be gained for that very large mileage.

Therefore the conditions must have been truly terrible for those in that trailer, and it may have been that many ,if not all, had passed away even before the vehicle was parked up on Saturday.

A truly terrible situation to be caught in for those whose only wish was to find a better life in Britain.

I'm with JenniferEccles on this subject. ?

Sorry for those poor people but I too agree with Jennifer
Unless something is done this will happen more and more

It must now be a priority to do checks and stop people dying in this terrible way.
I am also horrified and upset.

I guess its the downside of Schengen...less border checks

I said Schenagen because the poor souls would have already travel and suffered long before reaching the UK

Well Grandad1943. According to the remain lobby. It ain't such a great life here and certainly not after Brexit according to the majority of the remain lobby.
There should be notices put up at all borders and in several languages, proclaiming that it's a fools dream to think that the UK is some sort of Nirvana.