REPORTAGE
Grays is an English industrial area, east of London, sad like all the others: a tangle of metal sheets, barriers and huge soggy car parks. It is in this city that 39 bodies were discovered Wednesday in a refrigerated truck from Belgium. A green tarpaulin hastily erected, guarded by two police officers, hides a part of the scene.
A little further, the inhabitants are shocked. "It does not make sense, it's not something that can happen in Grays, but rather in movies, or in America, I hope the police will get to the bottom of things and solve this crime," is indignant Ruby, who lives ten minutes from the scene of the tragedy.
"This kind of thing happens a lot"
In downtown Grays, tragedy is on everyone's lips and echoes recent and recurring events. "That kind of thing happens a lot, either you discover it and it makes the headlines, or nothing at all ... Just next door, there is the port of Tilbury, they often find people there," said a resident sadly. "Yes, the last time they sent 23 people home, they were in a boat container, it was only a few months ago, but they were fine, they had food and equipment," says a other inhabitant.
The 25-year-old driver from Northern Ireland was arrested in connection with a murder investigation. There was no immediate indication of where the victims came from or whether they were migrants.