25 Sikh stowaways found in truck in Belgium

London, March 10

At least 25 illegal Sikh immigrants, including children, were found hiding in a secret compartment of a Romanian truck by the police at an industrial zone in Belgium.

On a tip-off about human trafficking, the police stopped a Romanian lorry last evening and found 25 Sikhs aged between 2 and 88 squashed together in a secret compartment.

“Behind a whole load of onions in the hold, we discovered a self-made cage. The cage was no bigger than 4 sq metres, but contained 25 people of Sikh origin, all squashed together,” a local official said. “The people were freed from this hazardous condition and were taken care of by civil protection officers,” he was quoted as saying by Flandersnews.be.

The traffickers were thought to be intending to set off from a carwash in Essen.

Two Romanian drivers were detained as well as the manager of the car wash. They are suspected of trafficking people in exacerbating circumstances. — PTI