Moment 35 Afghan Sikhs were freed from ‘metal coffin’: Screaming stowaways are helped by police who are now hunting international network of people smugglers who brought them to Britain

An international manhunt was continuing last night for the traffickers and lorry driver who tried to smuggle 35 desperate Afghan Sikhs into Britain in a shipping container that became a 'metal coffin', as full details of the horrifying incident emerged in a video of the moment 34 of them were rescued. The footage (top and bottom right) shows them weak and confused after their wailing and banging alerted rescuers at the port of Tilbury, Essex, on Saturday morning. The Sikh migrants from Afghanistan took a nightmarish journey across two continents (left).