Man held over Tilbury Docks shipping container death

  The stowaways arrived in the UK from Belgium on Saturday morning

A man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the death of a man inside a shipping container in Essex.

The dead man was one of 35 people from Afghanistan, including 15 children, found at Tilbury Docks on Saturday.

Essex Police said officers in Northern Ireland had also detained the suspect, 34 and from Limavady, on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry into the UK.

He is due to be transported to Essex for questioning later.

The group arrived in the UK on Saturday on a ship from Belgium and were said by police to be victims of people trafficking.

They were discovered after dock workers heard banging and screaming coming from one of the containers.

Emergency services were called to the docks after people were found in a container

 

Essex Police named the dead man as Meet Singh Kapoor, who was 40 years old. Initial post-mortem tests have proved inconclusive.

The 34 survivors include 10 men, nine women and 15 children, with their ages ranging from one to 72.

They are all in the care of the Home Office after being questioned by police and are seeking asylum in the UK.

A police spokesman said the man was arrested at just after 12.00 BST on the A1 at Banbridge in County Down.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are carrying out a search of his home, near Londonderry, he said.

The freighter Norstream left Zeebrugge on Friday evening

 

Acting Det Ch Insp Martin Pasmore, of Essex Police, said: "This is a fast-moving investigation which has already involved a number of police forces and law enforcement agencies from across the United Kingdom and Europe. 

"I am very grateful to officers from the PSNI for their assistance this morning. We will continue to work closely with all of our policing colleagues as we pursue our investigation to bring those responsible for this crime to justice."

It is believed the migrants were in the container for about 18 hours.