68 illegal immigrants discovered in containers in UK port of Harwich

Seven people have been taken to hospital after dozens of suspected illegal immigrants were found crammed in a container at a port. The East of England Ambulance Service were called around 10pm about people locked in the container at Harwich International Port in Essex. A total of 68 men and women were assessed at the scene, with seven taken to Colchester General Hospital. Two of those in hospital are pregnant women.

None are in a life-threatening or serious condition.

Colchester General Hospital spokesman

“The patients who were taken to hospital were suffering from abdominal and chest pains and were feeling faint,” a spokesman said. "The remaining 61 were released to the UK Border Agency officials.“ The people found were both men and women from various countries. The container is believed to have come from Holland. Matt Broad, from East of England Ambulance Service, said: "We do know from experience now that patients that have been in containers or lorries for some period of time can be dehydrated, and suffer other medical effects. Fortunately, on this occasion it wasn’t the case.”

With the numbers being over 60, we launched our full major incident plan and sent resources including our hazardous areas response team so we could ensure that all those people were thoroughly medically checked.

Matt Broad from East of England Ambulance Service

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