British police have launched a "homicide investigation" after 35 suspected immigrants were found in a shipping container at the Port of Tilbury in Essex.

Superintendent Trevor Rowe said the stowaways, both adults and children, were found in a container that arrived on a P&O ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium at about 6.30am.

One man died and the others were taken to three hospitals.

Mr Rowe said: "All we know at the moment is that we believe them to come from the Indian subcontinent, but it is still early days.

"It is a homicide investigation from the police point of view at this time."

The group was discovered after port staff heard "screaming and banging" coming from a container, he added.

He said there were about 50 containers on the ferry and searches were continuing to establish whether any others contained people.

He said: "This is a humanitarian issue and the welfare of these patients is a priority."

Mr Rowe said a "major incident" was declared at the port at 6.37am this morning.

He said: "Staff here at the port became aware of screaming and banging coming from a container coming from that particular ferry. As a result of that noise, staff were alerted and immediately breached the container to find 35 persons within that unit."

The group consisted of adults and children of both genders.

The Norstream was described as a "roll-on, roll-off" container ferry. Mr Rowe said: "It is a regular route here twice a day from Zeebrugge."

Mr Rowe added: "There are 50 containers on that ferry which we are continuing to obviously open and explore to make sure that there are no further incumbents within those containers, which is a concern."