Immigrants found in Tilbury shipping container "claiming asylum"

A Home Office spokesman said they "are now in the process of claiming asylum in the UK and we are providing accommodation and support to those who require it while their cases are considered".

He added: "The UK takes its international obligatiions extremely seriously and has a proud history of offering protection to those who need it."

Police can now confirm that they believe the man who was found dead to be Meet Singh Kapoor, aged 40, from Afghanistan.

The number of children found trapped in the shipping container has risen to 15.

Police and Border Force officers will now begin interviewing the final four of the 34 Sikh Afghanis found with their dead countryman, believed to be in his 40s, after they were treated for dehydration and hypothermia at Southend Hospital.

Police have now confirmed two adults and two children remained in the hospital overnight, taking the total children discovered in the container to 15.

Officials are yet to confirm the ages of the newly discharged patients, but those who left hospitals in Southend, Basildon and London at the weekend included 13 children aged between one and 12 and nine men and eight women aged between 18 and 72.