A Dutch lorry driver accused of the manslaughter of 58 Chinese illegal immigrants has told a court he did not know how their air supply was cut off in the back of his vehicle.

Only two of 60 immigrants hiding in the back of a lorry driven by Perry Wacker survived the journey from Belgium to the UK on 18 June last year.

Shocked port officials discovered the bodies of 54 men and four women in a sealed container after inspecting the lorry on its arrival at Dover's eastern docks in Kent.

Perry Wacker, 33, is accused of "sealing the fate" of the Chinese by closing the only air vent on the side of the container to avoid detection by immigration officials.

'Bogus applications'

Mr Wacker, of Rotterdam, Holland, is charged with 58 counts of manslaughter and four counts of conspiracy to smuggle people into Britain.

Co-defendant Ying Guo, 30, of South Woodford, Essex, is jointly charged with Mr Wacker on another count of conspiracy to smuggle immigrants into this country.

They both deny all charges.

Mr Guo is accused of being the immigrants' contact in this country and helping to put through bogus asylum applications for them.

The court had heard earlier in the trial at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent that the air vent being closed for the six hours it took the lorry to get from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Dover had caused them to suffocate.

Victor Temple QC, prosecuting, said that the air vent was tied open with a piece of string when Mr Wacker started his journey in Rotterdam.

He said: "You used to it to tie the vent back before starting off?"

The defendant replied: "I did not use any string."

Closed vent

The court heard that a ball of string was found inside the cab of the lorry when it stopped at Dover.

Mr Temple said the lorry stopped at a petrol station shortly before reaching Zeebrugge at 1750 GMT, which is when the vent must have been closed.

He said: "We know you could have closed the vent there."

Mr Wacker replied: "I cannot give any answer if the vent was open or closed."

The trial continues.