Essex truck with 39 dead bodies does not come from Bulgaria: PM

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "horrified and deeply saddened by the discovery of 39 bodies in a lorry in the United Kingdom," a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Guterres, said in a briefing that the UN chief made the comments in a tweet saying that "those responsible must be swiftly brought to justice."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was appalled by the news and was receiving regular updates about the investigation which was focused on human trafficking.

"We know that this trade is going on - all such traders in human beings should be hunted down and brought to justice," he said.

All those in the container were pronounced dead at the scene after the emergency services were called to the Waterglade Industrial Park, not far from docks on the River Thames.

Police said the trailer had travelled from Belgium to Purfleet and landed shortly after 12:30 am on Wednesday (2330 GMT Tuesday). It left the port on the truck at about 1:05 am and ambulance services notified police about the discovery of the bodies at 1:40 am.

Originally it was thought both parts of the vehicle had entered Britain at Holyhead in North Wales on Saturday and to have originally started its journey in Bulgaria.