Parking lot on the A61 near Sinzig Truck driver hears knocking sounds from the trailer cargo area

Sinzig · A truck driver heard knocking sounds from his truck cargo area at a rest stop on the A61 near Sinzig, about 30 minutes south of Bonn. Police were contacted and they conducted a search in the area.

Foto: dpa/Karl-Josef Hildenbrand

At around 7 a.m. on Friday morning, the Mendig autobahn police station received information that an Eastern European truck driver had heard knocking noises from the cargo area of his semitrailer. His truck was parked in the Höchen parking lot on the A61 near Sinzig, on the side of the autobahn that heads towards Koblenz. Police began a search for the persons who may have been hiding in the truck cargo area.

The driver suspected that people might have gotten into the cargo area in the trailer without having been detected. When a police patrol unit arrived at the parking lot, the officers found that the side tarpaulin of the trailer had been slashed open. But there were no people in the truck at that time. The police then conducted an extensive search using a police helicopter, a canine unit and police patrols from the Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Remagen and Mayen police stations.

In Sinzig, police officers eventually came into contact with five men who were believed to come from North Africa. Preliminary information from the investigation indicates that the men were likely the "passengers" in the truck trailer. According to police, the investigation is ongoing. Immigration authorities from the district of Bad Neuenahr/ Ahrweiler were also involved, the police said.

(Orig. text: GA; Translation: ck)