On 18 June 2000, just before midnight, 58 dead bodies were found in a

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

in the port town of Dover, United Kingdom. Two people were found alive but injured and taken to hospital.

Incident

The Dutch lorry came from a ferry that had arrived from

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...

in Belgium. It was selected for examination by officers from HM Customs & Excise who then called the police and ambulance service. It was determined that the deceased were

illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...

, and likely died of

asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that ca ...

, though

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

was not ruled out. The 60 people were trapped in the container for more than 18 hours, when the outside temperature reached 32 °C (90 °F). The survivors were found closest to the doors.

Casualties

It was confirmed by police that all the deceased were

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

immigrants, 54 men and 4 women. The incident was one of the largest mass killings in British criminal history, and the largest involving irregular immigrants entering the United Kingdom, the second being

Essex lorry deaths On 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people — 31 men and 8 women — were found in the trailer of an articulated refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex, United Kingdom. The trailer had been shipped from the port of Zeebrugge, Belgiu ...

, where all 39

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

immigrants were found dead in a truck in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. The 60 Chinese had paid £20,000 each. They were flown from Beijing to Belgrade, then driven to Zeebrugge.

Investigation and prosecution

The trailer was owned by a newly formed Dutch haulage company, 'Van Der Spek Transporten', which had been registered days before the incident. A similarly named, legitimate, Dutch haulage company was not involved. The driver of the lorry was Perry Wacker, 33, of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. Wacker was arrested at the scene and, in 2001, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for manslaughter for his part in an organised

people smuggling People smuggling (also called human smuggling), under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, ei ...

operation, coordinated by a Chinese snakehead gang. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate the entry of irregular immigrants. In 2003, nine Chinese gang members were jailed in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for their part in the tragedy.

Survivors

The two survivors were initially hospitalised with extreme

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

; they were subsequently given conditional leave to remain in Britain for four years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dover Incident, 2000 2000 crimes in the United Kingdom 2000 disasters in the United Kingdom 2000 in England 2000 in international relations 2000s in Kent 2000s trials Chinese community in the United Kingdom Crime in Kent Disasters in Kent 2000 incident Illegal immigration to the United Kingdom June 2000 crimes June 2000 events in the United Kingdom Manslaughter in the United Kingdom Manslaughter trials Migrant disasters in the United Kingdom Triad (organized crime) Trials in England Trials in the Netherlands

Incident

Casualties

Investigation and prosecution

Survivors

See also

References