AT LEAST 13 freezing UK-bound migrants have been rescued after locking themselves inside a refrigerated lorry heading for London. 

The traumatic incident occurred Saturday morning when a group of migrants, many of whom were underage, infiltrated a truck at the Saint-Hilaire-Cottes rest stop on the A26 highway, situated 45 miles from Calais in northern France.

The Eritreans forced open the back door, and then climbed inside, while the driver was sleeping.

He was carrying cherry tomatoes from Morocco to England, and was exhausted after his long drive.

Within a few hours, the Eritreans were struggling with the extreme cold – but had locked themselves in the truck.

A source said: “Another driver who was in the rest area heard banging inside the truck early on Saturday afternoon.

“The people inside were desperate by this time – they were shouting and screaming, but all the sounds were extremely muffled.”

Emergency services including paramedics arrived on the scene at around 3pm on Saturday, together with 10 gendarmes. 

All of those in the lorry were initially evacuated to a field hospital.

And then four were rushed to emergency wards in Arras and Saint-Omer, suffering from a range of conditions, including hypothermia.

Authorities detained the adult migrants for questioning, whereas the underage individuals were handed over to social services and a specialized migrant minors’ charity for care.

Christian Vedelago, chief of staff for the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, remarked, “Their hypothermia indicates they had been exposed for several hours.”

In 2019, 39 Vietnamese nationals – eight women and 31 males, including two boys – were found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Grays, Essex.

The trailer they were in and had been shipped from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Purfleet, Essex.

Eleven defendants were later convicted of crimes related to the deaths in the UK, while a further 19 were imprisoned in Belgium.

And in 2000, 58 Chinese migrants were found dead inside a Dutch truck in Dover. 

The vehicle had transported its human cargo across the English Channel from Belgium.

The driver of the lorry was later sentenced to 14 years in prison for manslaughter, and for playing a part in an organised people smuggling gang.

Nine Chinese men were also jailed in Hollande for the part they played in causing the 58 deaths. 

While small boats are primarily used for transporting migrants across the Channel to England, there remain numerous attempts to smuggle them inside trucks.