The driver of the container truck carrying 39 victims from France to a port in Belgium has been apprehended.
The Belgian federal prosecutor's office confirmed on October 27 that the suspect arrested by Irish police on the morning of October 26 was the driver transporting the 39 victims who died.
On the morning of October 26th, a 23-year-old driver from Northern Ireland was arrested by police in the Republic of Ireland at Dublin port. While authorities in both the UK and Ireland have yet to release official information regarding the cause of the incident, on the evening of October 27th, Eric van der Sypt, spokesperson for the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office, confirmed that the arrested man was the driver who transported the container containing the 39 deceased victims to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium before it was unloaded and shipped by sea to the UK.
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| Police examine the scene where the container contained 39 victims who died. Photo: AFP |
According to Eric van der Sypt, immediately after the discovery of the container truck containing 39 victims in the UK, Belgium launched an investigation and quickly identified the driver who had brought the container to the port of Zeebrugge on October 23rd. A Europe-wide arrest warrant was then issued, and on the morning of October 26th, the driver was apprehended at the port of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
The arrest of this suspect is considered a major turning point in the investigation because he may provide crucial information regarding the route of the container carrying the victims. According to representatives of the Belgian Public Prosecutor's Office, it is currently unclear whether the driver knew that the container contained 39 victims, and at what point the victims may have boarded the container.
Only one piece of information has been confirmed: the driver admitted to being in France last week and transporting the container from France to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge via Lille or Dunkirk, which is only about 100km from the Belgian port.
