stowaway

The police and Koninklijke Marechaussee found 18 stowaways hidden in a "tiny, extremely hot space" between a load of tires in a small truck at Hoek van Holland on Sunday. Among the stowaways were five children between the ages of 5 and 14 and a pregnant woman. "Despite the miserable conditions in which they found themselves, all stowaways were in good health", the police said in a statement.

A truck driver was surprised by a strange stowaway in Aalsmeer on Monday. When the trucker, who came from Austria, stopped on Aalsmeerderweg, a cat jumped out of his truck, Dierenambulance de Ronde Venen/Amstelland said on Facebook.

Dierenambulance believes that the cat stowed away on the truck in St Georgen, near Salzburg in Austria. The adventurous critter therefore had quite a trip behind it by the time it jumped off the truck in the Netherlands.

The police found eight stowaways in a truck near Moerdijk, Noord-Brabant on Tuesday. They were taken to a police station for further investigation.

Police officers searched the truck after the driver reported that there may be people hiding inside, according to RTL Nieuws. The stowaways were taken out of the truck at the Streepland parking lot along the A16/A59.

At this stage nothing is known about the identity of the people or where they come from. The police believe they are asylum seekers trying to cross Europe illegally, according to the broadcaster. 

The police found 11 stowaways, including a pregnant woman, in the back of a refrigerated truck on the A67 in Bladel on Thursday evening. The Polish truck driver called the police when he heard voices in his trailer, RTL Nieuws reports.

The stowaways spent two days in the back of the truck. Fortunately, the cooling element was not turned on. All eleven people are adults and were in good health.