Three Syrian men were found locked in a refrigerated food truck Tuesday, near the Basque town of Hernani. They were suffering from hypothermia and a lack of oxygen.
The discovery was made at a gas station near the town of Hernani, where a driver pulled up next to the truck and heard banging and shouting coming from the back of the vehicle.
Reportedly the truck had originated in Poland but its last stop was in Belgium, where the truck was reloading fruit produce, bound for MercaMadrid in Spain's capital city.
The three refugees are all in their thirties and believed by Basque police to be Syrian nationals. On taking them out of the truck, the men were immediately hospitalized with hypothermia, but are believed to be doing well and are recovering.
The Basque regional police force have opened an investigation in an effort to determine whether the driver was aware that the Syrian refugees were in the back of his truck, where the temperature was reportedly only around 10 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile Spain has agreed to take on 14,900 Syrian refugees under an EU agreement, where the migrants will be relocated from Greece, Hungary and Italy. The first refugees are due to arrive early in October this year.
This quota was originally rejected by the Spanish government, but after citizens lobbied in protest, it was agreed to take them on. According to The Local, despite the economic crisis in the country, over 100 local councils across Spain have now declared themselves "refugee friendly" with thousands of people signing up to welcome them into their homes.
Source: The Local / Telecinco
Photo: Basque police car CC BY 2.5 Javierme
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