The women, four from Vietnam and two from Iraq, had spent more than 10 hours in the truck on Wednesday, in an enclosed space with boxes of bananas surrounding them, the Guardian reported, citing the BBC.

French authorities inspect a truck during an immigration control campaign in La Turbie, France, November 2020.

They began to panic when they realized the truck was heading in a different direction than they expected. They were hoping to get to either the U.K. or Ireland.

One of the women then managed to text a Vietnamese BBC reporter to request help. She said they were trapped inside the truck and that it was "so cold".

The reporter later determined the women's location on the E15 highway thanks to live GPS sharing. Her colleagues in France then contacted local police, who managed to intercept the truck. The truck's driver has been arrested and an investigation is underway.

Laetitia Francart, a French prosecutor, said the truck driver, who was heading to Italy, was not at fault, the Associated Press reported. The women later confessed that they climbed onto the truck as they thought it was going to England, due to the Irish registration plates.

The women were initially detained for illegal staying in France, but were later released. Four women have been given 30 days to leave France, while the other two were allowed to stay so they could request asylum.

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Turkish President honours Vietnamese earthquake rescue workers

The Turkish government held a ceremony on April 25 to present the presidential medal and order of distinguished humanitarian service to the missions that participated in the earthquake search and rescue efforts in Turkey.

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Vietnamese military rescue team completes mission in Turkey, arrives home

The 76-member search and rescue team of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) safely arrived in Hanoi from Turkey on February 23, completing their mission in the earthquake-hit nation.

Vietnamese military rescue team returns home from Turkey

The search and rescue team of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) left Turkey on February 22 (local time), concluding its working trip to join recovery efforts in the earthquake-hit nation.

Source: VnExpress