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DOVER MEMORIAL FOR CHINESE LORRY VICTIMS

A permanent memorial was unveiled today (18 June) to the 58 Chinese men and women who died in the back of a lorry in Dover exactly five years ago.

The Chinese  migrants suffocated when the Dutch lorry driver closed the air vent into the container during a six-hour ferry crossing from Belgium.

Sixty people had paid a criminal gang to smuggle them into the UK, but o­nly two survived the journey .

The bodies of the 54 men and four women were discovered when Customs officers at Dover carried out a vehicle inspection.

The driver of the lorry Perry Wacker was sentenced to 14 years for manslaughter at Maidstone Crown Court, in April 2001 while seven other men were jailed by a Dutch for their roles.