Police authorities said 13 children, aged between one and 12, were among the 35 Afghan Sikh migrants found in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks on Saturday.

According to some reports, staff at Tilbury Docks east of London discovered a dead man and 34 other survivors -- which includes nine men, eight women, and 13 children -- inside the container that arrived by truck from Zeebrugge seaport in Belgium.

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Superintendent Trevor Roe of Essex police said the welfare and health of the people is their top priority. All the survivors were taken and treated for hypothermia and dehydration at nearby hospitals.

After ensuring the safety of the victims, police authorities from the Border Force will be speaking to them with the help of interpreters to find out what happened and how they got inside the container, BBC News reported.

Based on the police investigation, the group trapped in the shipping container were victims of human trafficking and are from Afghanistan. Authorities also found out they are of the Sikh faith.

The people inside the container were victims of international organised criminals, former head of the U.K. Border Force Tony Smith said in a statement.

The victimes were being exploited by criminal gangs in exchange to a passage to the West. Some of them are stowaways who wanted to migrate to the U.K. or Europe but were taken advantage of criminals who took their entire life savings away on the promise of a passage to the West, Smith added.

Smith explained that in order to enter U.K or Europe territories, migrants have to go through the legal routes and apply for visa and permits to avoid being exploited by criminals.

Meanwhile, police authorities launched a homicide investigation following the death of the man, who is in his forties. The Essex police will also be examining 30 members of the group once they are released from the hospital.

TagsAfghanistan, kids, UK, container, Immigrants