A PAIR of illegal immigrants targeted a coach on a school trip to France to get across the English Channel – after a surge in stowaway journeys.
The two of asylum seekers – one thought to be a child – climbed into the luggage compartment as the bus brought back 50 children from a day trip to Bolougne on Friday.
They remained hidden from Border Force officials at Dover and remained in the storage section of the coach until it stopped at Birchanger Green Welcome Break service station on the M11.
Year 7 pupils and teachers are said to have heard noises from the bottom of the coach, prompting the driver to pull over and stop.
Two illegal immigrants, including a child, are said to have emerged from the vehicle and remained at the service station until they were detained by police shortly before 10pm.
The students, from a small secondary school in Cambridgeshire, were taken inside the halt and told the coach had suffered an engine failure.
It took an hour for the children to be allowed back on the coach so the journey home could resume.
A parent of one of the children on board said: “The children were really tired because they had been up at 3am, and they were meant to get home at 10pm.
“Because of the hold-up to arrest the migrants, they didn’t get back until well after 11pm.
“It’s a total shock because they could have been any two people.
“Thankfully they did not try to do anything, but I feel uneasy knowing they were close to my child.”
An Essex Police spokeswoman confirmed: “We were alerted to concerns for the welfare of two people discovered under a bus on the M11 near Stansted on Friday evening.
“Officers were called out to a rest stop shortly before 10pm.
“One person has been taken into police custody, while one is being referred to social care.”
It comes after we revealed 13 migrants targeted a lorry delivering supplies to a Sainsbury’s distribution centre last week.
Figures show there were 5,874 detections of illegal immigrants at ports on the continent, including Calais, Dunkirk and the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles.
It is a rise of 22 per cent compared with 4,794 in 2023.
While migrants crossing the Channel are easily recorded, lorry stowaways may reach the UK undetected.
Many go on to obtain illegal cash-in-hand work or claim asylum and be housed in a hotel.
Last night the Home Office said it was investigating how the pair evaded border control.
A spokeswoman said: “We are relentless in our pursuit of people-smuggling gangs and stand ready to respond to all methods, including coaches and other clandestine routes, using a wide range of techniques and technology to protect our border security.”
AMERICANS have been warned about the potential of losing carry-on belongings when passing through airport security.
This can be avoided through some considerations, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Thousands of US travelers in specific lose everyday essentials while trying to go through the security line due to the administration’s restrictions and rules.
Of the most common taken away are liquid-based items, whether travelers forget them in their bags or don’t fully realize that the liquid exceeds a limit.
The TSA has several policies surrounding what it considers liquids, per Travel and Tour World.
In a recent statement with reference to National Hamburger Day, the TSA emphasized that condiments used for a burger, like ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, or barbecue sauce, could be subject go getting thrown out.
Sauces, dressings, and spreads are all considered liquids and must be put inside containers that are no more than 3.4 ounces.
Those exceeding that limit must either be checked or left behind.
There is an exception, however.
Carry-on liquids travelers bring that are over the 3.4-ounce limit and purchased from a duty-free store, remain sealed, and have a receipt dated within 48 hours of their flight, could be accepted.
Duty-free means exempt from taxes, and duty-free stores are typically found in airports.
Additionally, there are other at least three other liquids in larger quantities that qualify, but they must be declared by travelers.
They include medications, baby formula, and breast milk.
Overall, the TSA’s definition of a liquid can be broad.
Peanut butter, jelly, cranberry sauce, maple syrup, hummus, and more are all considered liquids or gels.
Even ice that has melted or partially thawed must meet the 3.4-ounce requirement at the time it passes through security.
The Transportation Security Administration regulates the amount of liquids, aerosols, and gels that flyers can bring through airport security with the 3-1-1 liquids rule.
The 3-1-1 rule consists of the following:
Each container of liquid has to be 3.4 ounces or less.
All liquids have to fit in one clear, quart-sized, resealable bag.
Finally, passengers can only bring one bag of liquids each.
Alcohol has particularly strict rules.
Anything that’s stronger than 140 proof will be removed immediately from checked or carry-on luggage.
Others must also follow the 3.4-ounce limit, unless from duty-free purchases that are in security-approved bags.
Of course, the mini liquor bottles that could be packed in carry-ons also can’t be consumed on the plane.
Consuming your own alcohol onboard is a violation of federal regulations.
It’s best to double-check everything, overall.
The TSA processes about 1.3 million bags on average each day.
Fortunately, hamburgers are allowed, so those who traveled on May 28 were in the clear.
The TSA also spoke out recently after rumors that a membership card from a popular retailer could qualify as a valid ID.
A little-known TSA ‘book’ rule must also be followed by passengers, and not following it could risk delay before even getting to the plane.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have found 6,000-year-old skeletons from Colombia with ancient DNA that could rewrite human history.
The incredible remains belonging to hunter-gatherers at the ancient preceramic site of Checua don’t have DNA that matches any known Indigenous population in the region today.
Their bombshell genetic signature has revealed a distinct – and extinct – lineage.
This could have descended all the way from the earliest humans to reach South America.
This lineage diverged early on and remained genetically isolated for thousands of years.
Researchers have managed to reconstruct a rare genetic timeline by anaylysing DNA from 21 people who lived in the Bogota Altiplano between roughly 6,000 to 500 years ago.
Extracted from bones and teeth, the DNA samples showed that the oldest people at Checua carried a distinctive ancestral signature.
This has completely disappeared from the modern gene pool.
Kim-Louise Krettek, lead author and a PhD student at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution in Germany said: “This area is key to understanding how the Americas were populated.
“It was the land bridge between North and South America and the meeting point of three major cultural regions: Mesoamerica, Amazonia, and the Andes.”
Early people weren’t related to other ancient groups in South America genetically.
They also didn’t share ancestry with early North American populations.
Krettek added: “Our results show that the Checua individuals derive from the earliest population that spread and differentiated across South America very rapidly.
“We couldn’t find descendants of these early hunter-gatherers of the Colombian high plains, the genes were not passed on.
“That means in the area around Bogotá there was a complete exchange of the population.”
Roughly a whopping 2,000 years ago, the genetic landscape of the Bogota highlands shifted.
The distinctive lineage discovered in the earliest Checua remains had vanished and replaced by a new population.
Their DNA bear close similarity to the ancient Panamanians and modern Chibchan-speaking groups in Costa Rica and Panama.
Co-author and researcher at Universidad Nacional de Colombia Andrea Casas-Vargas explained how the bizarre disappearance of the original population’s genetic traces is rare in South America.
She said: “Up to now, strong genetic continuity has been observed in the population of the Andes and the southern cone of South America over long time periods and cultural changes.”
As new arrivals came to the Bogota highlands, the population changed significantly as time went on.
But the shift didn’t come with any signs of war or invasion, nor violence, according to the archeologists.
The change may have just occurred gradually through migration, cultural exchange, or intermarriage.
Therefore, the Checua people’s unique DNA faded – and eventually vanished.
The unbelievable discovery is the first example of Colombia looking at ancient DNA – but experts say it’s just the beginning.
Surrounding regions like western Columbia, Venezuela, and Ecuador have never received genetical analysation.
Krettek said: “Ancient DNA from those areas will be crucial in understanding how humans migrated into South America.”
THE final race of the Triple Crown series is here as attention turns to the Belmont Stakes!
SunSport will bring you how every horse finished in the Saratoga Race Course showpiece.
Full results and horse placing to follow…
The five-day Belmont Stakes Festival includes 27 stakes races with purses totalling £11,275,000.
The Belmont Stakes showpiece alone will have a total prize pool of $2million.
Here is a full breakdown of the pot:
1st: $1.2 million
2nd: $360,000
3rd: $200,000
4th: $100,000
5th: $60,000
6th: $40,000
7th: $20,000
8th: $20,000
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 1-800-522-4700 or go to ncpgambling.org/chat