The head of the maritime police in Zeebrugge has said that it appears that the 13 refugees who were found in Wexford yesterday had intended to travel to Britain, but boarded the wrong container. The Irish container was loaded at the Belgian port.
Speaking on Belgian television tonight, Dirk Calemyn said that the voyage to Britain would have taken just over four hours whereas the voyage to Ireland would have taken days.
Officials from the Turkish embassy have arrived in Wexford to help Gardaí establish the identities of the refugees who attempted to enter Ireland illegally.
Five of the people survived the attempt but eight people died during the journey. It is understood at least one of the survivors is Turkish.
The condition of five refugees who survived has improved. However, a spokeswoman at Wexford General Hospital said that they remained in a seriously ill condition, and that two of them are critical.
Post mortem examinations are being carried out on the bodies of the eight people, four adults and four children, whose bodies were found in the nearly airless container near Wexford yesterday morning.
The refugees were packed into the container by a Europe-based gang dealing in human trafficking for profit. It is believed that the refugees may have been in the freight container for up to eight days.
Meanwhile, Gardaí are liasing with European and International police organisations after the discovery of the refugees. The Minister for Justice, John O' Donoghue, said that the investigation would draw on international police co-operation which had been set up to counteract human trafficking.
In an RTÉ interview this morning the Bishop of Ferns, asked people to look upon asylum seekers and refugees in their own towns and villages in a new and Christian light.
Dr Comiskey also said that European legislation on asylum seekers would have to be re-examined. He said that Europe was becoming a fortress rather than a family of nations.
