BRUSSELS, Oct 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Belgian police found 12 migrants alive in a refrigerated truck at a motorway parking area in northern Belgium on Wednesday after the driver alerted authorities, a federal police spokeswoman said.
The driver, who was transporting fruit and vegetables, called the police after he found 12 men of Syrian and Sudanese origin and took them to the Immigration Office in the city of Antwerp.
The men were discovered while travelling between Antwerp and Brussels on Tuesday, a police spokeswoman said.
All 12 were “in good health,” she said.
The driver of the truck suspected he had stowaways in the back, and he had pulled over into a highway parking area.
A police investigation has been launched to find out how the migrants got on board and whether they were seeking to get to Britain.
Last week, 39 migrants were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain after crossing from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
Belgian authorities, facing increasing scrutiny of their fight against human trafficking, are cooperating with British authorities in the investigation.
Last weekend, Belgian authorities said they had found two more trucks carrying 20 migrants, all alive.
