According to reports by the Press Association, five people have been taken to the hospital after 15 people, including children, were found in the back of a freezer lorry in Surrey, Canada.
The police were said to have arrived at Clacket Lane services, between junctions 5 and 6 of the M25, at 10.15am on Friday, to find 10 adults and five children, all thought to be refugees or migrants, in the back of the lorry.
The children will now be placed in the care of social services, a Surrey police spokesman said. Those on board were said to be from Iraq, Syria and Iran.
The driver of the white HGV, who was travelling northbound, stopped at the service station after reporting that he had heard loud banging coming from inside.
One of the calls to police had reportedly come from the driver, while the second had come from a person inside the freezing container.
Surrey police Inspector Alan Nicholls told BBC News: “We received a couple of phone calls this morning – one from the lorry driver and one from the people inside the lorry – that he had heard noises inside it and that people inside were saying there were 40 of them and some of them were dead.”
“Naturally, it was a very high-speed response to this. We have attended, together with the South East Coast ambulance service, and assessed 15 people taken out of the back of this vehicle.”
“None of them, I’m pleased to say, are dead. Five have been taken to East Surrey hospital for a checkup and some of the 10 who were left were juveniles, so we’re looking at getting them placed with the social services, and another five will go down to Dover for immigration.”
The lorry driver is assisting police with inquiries and the investigation will be passed on to UK Visas and Immigration, the spokesman added