Vietnamese truck victims died from lack of oxygen and overheating, British police say
- Two more arrests made in connection with deaths of 39 migrants found in back of refrigerated trailer in Essex
- All postmortem examinations completed, police say in statement about provisional autopsy results
The 39 Vietnamese migrants found in the back of a truck in Britain last year died of lack of oxygen and overheating, police said on Tuesday, citing provisional autopsy results.
The victims were found dead in a refrigerated trailer in the county of Essex, east of London, on October 23 last year after having been transported by ferry from Belgium.
“All postmortem examinations have now been completed and we await the final reports for all 39 victims,” Essex police said in a statement.
“The provisional cause of death for those in the lorry was a combination of hypoxia [lack of oxygen] and hyperthermia [overheating] in an enclosed space.”
The force said they had made two more arrests in connection with the deaths and wanted to know more about two similar journeys made on October 11 and October 18.
“It is believed that lorries were used to facilitate the unlawful entry of people into the country via Purfleet,” the statement said, referring to the port the Vietnamese came through.
