Two people arrested in Vietnam over deaths of 39 people in lorry in UK

TWO people have been arrested in Vietnam in connection with the discovery of 39 migrants found dead inside a refrigerated lorry at Waterglade industrial park in Grays, Essex, UK.

Regional police in the province of Ha Tinh have started a criminal investigation into suspected human trafficking after 10 Vietnamese families said they feared their relatives are among the dead, reported London Metro.



Authorities confirmed that several other people have also been brought in for questioning.



Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered the investigation into the deaths on October 26, three days after the bodies were found inside the refrigerated lorry.



Lorry driver Maurice Robinson from Northern Ireland has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, money laundering, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and conspiracy to traffic people.



Authorities said they believed the lorry originated in Bulgaria and entered the UK at Holyhead on October 19.



At first Essex police had believed the victims to be Chinese nationals, but it was later revealed as many as 25 of them could be from Vietnam.



However, officers said the migrants had few documents on them, meaning identification of the 38 adults and one teenager inside the lorry could be a 'lengthy process.'



The lorry is believed to have made a journey of 2,500 miles from Bulgaria to Britain and if the refrigeration was turned on inside then the death of the occupants could have occurred in a relatively short space of time. It is understood the lorry entered the UK via a ferry crossing from Dublin to Holyhead in Wales. It means the people inside may have been dead for at least four days.


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