By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-04 07:45:52 | Updated at 2026-10-04 08:31:02
52 minutes ago
A man has been found shot dead in the back of a British van packed with illegal migrants in France.
The vehicle, which contained 10 undocumented migrants, was found around 20 miles from the city of Troyes and 200 miles from the Channel.
Troyes prosecutor Isabelle Verissimo said a 47-year-old man had been found with a "gunshot wound to the head" in the passenger seat of a "British commercial vehicle registered in England".
The discovery was made at around 5am on Friday morning.
The prosecutor said a suspect is "believed to have been present at the crime scene" and has been arrested.
Police have not yet released details regarding the nationality of the man found dead or the migrants.
According to the prosecutor's statement, the incident unfolded as the van stopped to park at the Champ l’Épée rest area on the A26 motorway.
A man has been found shot dead in the back of a British van packed with illegal migrants in France, reports claim (file photo)
That piece of motorway, a 220-mile stretch of tarmac from Troyes to Calais, is often referred to as the "Motorway of the English" - Autoroute des Anglais.
People often use the route to get to the English Channel to travel to the UK.
Police found there were "around 10 foreign nationals who were irregularly on French territory" inside the vehicle at the time.
According to the prosecutor's statement, the incident unfolded as the van stopped to park at the Champ l’Épée rest area on the A26 motorway
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An initial investigation suggests shots were fired after the van pulled into a parking space.
Several people fled the scene following the incident, Mrs Verissimo said.
A criminal case, the prosecutor's office said, would be opened on Saturday for "murder, attempted murder, unauthorised possession of a weapon".
The investigation will also look into "aiding the irregular entry, the movement and the residence of a foreigner in France as part of an organised group, and human trafficking as part of an organised group".
The case has been handed over to the law enforcement office in Reims.
GB News understands the Foreign Office have not been contacted regarding the case.
