French police have detained a truck in the south of the country with at least 31 Pakistani citizens were hiding in a van, The Local reported.

The prosecutor’s statement said the truck was driven by a Pakistani. The truck was not initially in the field of suspicion by law enforcement officers; it was detained during a routine check near the border with Italy.

The migrants, who included three teenagers, were handed over to the Italian authorities in accordance with immigration procedures.

"We will try and establish if we can trace it back to a network and backers as we always do in this type of case," the prosecutors' office in the southeastern city of Nice said.