Corpses of 39 Vietnamese Immigrants Found Inside Refrigerated Truck, Police Suspect Human Trafficking

Police officers were horrified after discovering 39 corpses of Vietnamese immigrants inside a refrigerated truck. The consensus is that they were victims of human traffickers.

Last Thursday, the British police declared that a total of 39 corpses were found chilling at the back of a refrigerated lorry last month. One suspicion is that the Vietnam nationals were supposed to be entered illegally into the country. But things went wrong and they ended up all chilled and dead.

The authorities told the families of the deceased individuals about the fate of the fridge gang, reported by Sky News.

Suspects are on the run

A statement was given by Caroline Beasley-Murray, Essex County senior coroner, who said that it was just right that the next of kin were informed early on in the investigation. Beasley-Murray also expressed condolences for family and friends of the deceased, who met a tragic end in the back of a refrigerated lorry, according to Fox News.

Contents of the truck were inspected by the authorities. Investigation revealed that there were corpses of 31 men and 8 women packed inside the truck. The vehicle was intercepted by the Industrial Park, about 25 miles in eastern London on October 23.

Those arrested over the incident were several individuals who are connected to the crime. Suspects are two brothers who came from Northern Ireland.

The suspects sought after by the police are Ronan Hughes, 40, and Christopher Hughes, 34, brothers who are high on the wanted list for trafficking and committing manslaughter, according to the Essex Police from last week. Both of them are residents of Armagh in Northern Ireland but have links to the Republic of Ireland, cited BBC.

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Sources say that the driver known as Maurice Robinson, 25 years old, was immediately nabbed by the police when the chilled corpses were found in the interior of the compartment. He is also from the north of Ireland.

Robinson is also facing charges for the complicity of the deaths of 39 illegal aliens. Some of the charges added were trafficking people, assisting illegal immigration, and lastly, money laundering. He's due for arraignment on the 25th of November, noted Essex Police.

Other individuals who were arrested included a man and woman, both aged 38, with a 48-year-old man all involved in charges of trafficking. Proof was loose, so they were out on bail according to the officers.

As explained by the investigators, the origin of the refrigerated container truck is registered in Bulgaria. They entered via a ferry to the U.K. from a port in Bulgaria at the Zeebrugge port.

Identities of the victims were identified

With the help of Vietnamese authorities, the victims inside the freezer truck were identified, bagged, and tagged as well. The exact place the truck was found is in the Waterglade Industrial Park. All the victims were verified from Vietnam.

The files needed to positively identify the deceased was provided by the Vietnamese to the identification commission. Soon after, the commission completed the identification process and all the families were sent notice right away.

One of the Essex officers, Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith said that working with international police is crucial to get the job done.

It is unfortunate that the Vietnamese immigrants died in a refrigerated truck, but hopefully, the investigation will give closure and bring the victims to justice.