Man trapped in refrigerated lorry avoids ‘dying by cold’ with desperate 999 call

A group of people trapped inside a refrigerator lorry for hours called emergency services after fearing they would freeze to death.

The group of 12, which included a pregnant woman and children, were squashed on top of fruit pallets and had been unable to get the drivers’ attention after banging on the trailer for hours.

One man managed to make a call to 999 with final one percent of his phone’s battery charge, and pleaded with the operator to come to their aid.

In audio released by Cambridgeshire Police, the man who was found with the group in Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire, can be heard telling the operator that they were ‘dying’ and pleading to ‘help us please’.

‘The lorry is cold. We are dying by cold’, he told the call handler.

‘We don’t know where we are. We have two underage, like 16 or 17, they are dying.

‘We have woman. Pregnant. She’s dying. With the cold, she’s dying.’

The troubled man went on to reveal the group had been stuck inside the lorry since midnight of the day before, and they had been banging on the lorry for over three hours.

The lorry driver was initially arrested on suspicion of human trafficking but has since been released with no further action.

Cambridgeshire Police are still trying to work out where the group travelled from.

A spokesperson for the force said they found ’12 people, including five children between 15 and 17, inside squashed at the top of pallets of fruit.

‘Everyone was checked over by the ambulance crew, given food and drink, and we’re pleased to say no one was harmed.’

The police confirmed the children had been taken into police protection, and an investigation continues.

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