Updated November 20th, 2019 at 13:37 IST

Migrants found alive in refrigerated container on Dutch-UK ferry;medical aid provided

25 Migrants were found alive in refrigerated container on Dutch-UK ferry. Two transported to the hospital, the rest 23 handed over to police officials

Reported by: Shubham Bose
| Image:self
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At least 25 migrants were found in a refrigerated container aboard a ferry in the Netherlands that was scheduled to sail to Britain on Tuesday.The migrants were given medical assistance and two transported to a hospital for further care.

Risking their lives to cross the channel

Read: Greece: 41 Migrants Found Alive By Police In A Refrigerated Truck

Read: Belgium: 12 Migrants Found Alive In A Refrigerated Truck In Brussels

The boat which was a cargo ferry is run by DFDS Seaways line, a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe.In a statement, they claimed that the migrants had come on board on a lorry trailer. The incident surfaces a month after 39 Vietnamese people were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain last week, thus exposing the high risks of illegal migrant routes to Europe.

The Rotterdam region emergency services said that after the migrants were discovered, the ferry returned to the harbour and the migrants were given medical assistance.Two of the migrants were transported to a hospital for extra medical care. The remaining 23 were handed over to the police officials.

Read: Essex Truck Murder Case: UK Police Release Names Of Vietnamese Victims

Read: Chinese Media: 'Britain Must Accept Responsibility For Essex Incident'

The driver of the truck which was used to transport the migrants has been arrested. The migrants were found wrapped in silver thermal blankets, however, the nationalities of the 25 migrants are not yet known.

According to the mayor of Vlaardingen, Annemiek Jetten, the immigrants are so desperate to get across the channel that the death of the Vietnamese migrants has not put them off. Jetten also added that the desperation of the migrants may have been exasperated by the fact that immigration laws in Britain will become tougher after its scheduled exit from EU next year.

The migrants continue to get desperate

In a separate incident, the Dutch police on Tuesday intercepted a bus carrying 65 Moldovan nationals including children who were planning on claiming asylum. In September, a record 86 migrants reportedly crossed the English Channel in  a single day. Early on Sunday morning officials intercepted 4 boats a mere few hours apart carrying a total of 39 people who were subsequently detained.

Britain was scheduled to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. After an extension, the date was pushed to October 31, 2019, which current Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised to meet. But after a no-deal Brexit was taken off the table by the British Parliament, he has sought another extension. The European Union has now agreed on a tentative date of January 31, 2020.

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Published November 20th, 2019 at 11:31 IST