A British truck driver is being charged with manslaughter after 39 migrants he claims to have unwittingly smuggled to Belgium later died.
Eamonn Harrison, 23, says he owed his boss, Ronan Hughes, over $65,000 after he destroyed a shipment of bacon in a drunk-driving incident, according to the New York Post. Harrison claims to have been under the impression he would be smuggling stolen truck parts out of France, but that smugglers actually snuck 39 migrants into his truck while he was watching a “wee bit of Netflix.” (RELATED: REPORT: Police Say Remains Found In Murder Investigation Point To Cannibalism)
Harrison testified that when he got to his pickup point, a man speaking broken English told him to stay inside the cab and sleep while the truck was loaded. That’s when he began watching Netflix while 39 Vietnamese migrants were loaded into the back, according to the New York Post.
UK driver watched a ‘wee bit of Netflix’ while 39 migrants were loaded into truck https://t.co/8X34S6uIGe pic.twitter.com/EfMQ3D26gB
— New York Post (@nypost) November 20, 2020
He drove the trailer to Zeebrugge, Belgium, and from there it was shipped to the UK, the Guardian reports. When the shipment arrived in Essex, all 39 men, women, and children inside the container had died, according to the Post. Harrison now faces 39 counts of manslaughter, per the Guardian. (RELATED: President Emmanuel Macron Issues Charter To French Muslim Leaders Prohibiting Foreign Interference, Political Islam)