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Associated Press

Ten teenagers were among the 39 Vietnamese found dead in a truck container in southeast England last month, local police said on Friday while relaying for the first time details of those who died.
The scope of the tragedy became clear as police released the names and ages of those who died in one of Britain’s worst incidents of people smuggling.
Two of the dead were only 15, while the oldest was 44. Some 20 of the victims came from one province – Nghe An in north central Vietnam, around 200 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Police suggested they waited until the entire identification process was complete before releasing details of those who died.




“Our priority has been to identify the victims, to preserve the dignity of those who have died and to support the victims’ friends and families,” said Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith.
“It remained of paramount importance to us to ensure that an individual’s next of kin were informed, and that they were given some time to absorb this tragic news before we publicly confirmed their loved one’s identity.”
The authorities worked with Vietnamese police and the coroner to identify the bodies found on October 23 in the back of a truck in an industrial estate in the English town of Grays.
I’m dying because I can’t breathe
Pham Thi Tra My
Police said last week that all of the victims were Vietnamese citizens. DNA samples were taken from families in Vietnam who suspected their missing relatives had been on that truck.
Some of the names had emerged in news reports before, among them Pham Thi Tra My, a 26-year-old woman whose heartbreaking final text message to her mother vividly brought home the scale of the tragedy. Her family had been unable to contact her since the text arrived saying she was suffocating.
“I’m so sorry mom and dad … My journey abroad doesn’t succeed,” she wrote. “Mom, I love you and dad very much. I’m dying because I can’t breathe … Mom, I’m so sorry.”
The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid people traffickers for their clandestine transit into England. British police have charged 25-year-old Maurice Robinson, from Northern Ireland, with 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. They say he drove the cab of the truck to Purfleet, England, where it picked up the container, which had arrived by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.
In Ireland, 22-year-old Eamonn Harrison was arrested on a British warrant. Essex Police in Britain said they had started extradition proceedings to bring him to the UK to face charges of manslaughter. Several others have been arrested in Vietnam.

Families in Vietnam have set up altars with incense and photos of their loved ones, praying for their return. The tragedy has also deeply affected the Vietnamese community in the UK, who gathered last week for a candlelight vigil at the Church of the Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in east London to mourn the dead.
Father Simon Thang Duc Nguyen, a Roman Catholic priest who organised the ceremony, said the community never thought such a great number of people could die in a single incident.
“It’s a funeral for a whole nation, not only of a family,” he said. “It’s a funeral … for people across the world.”


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UK truck deaths

British police reveal 10 teens among 39 Vietnamese found dead in truck last month

Family members of one of the victims react to the news of their death from their home in Nghe An province, Vietnam. Photo: EPA

Local Vietnamese residents attend a prayer service for the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, during a Sunday mass at the Phu Xuan village in Vietnam's Nghe An province on October 27, 2019. - Dread mounted across Vietnam October 27 as relatives of migrants feared to be among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain revealed new heart-wrenching details of their last contact with their loved ones. Many are believed to have come from impoverished villages in central Vietnam, where some families now fear the worst. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Essex truck deaths: why are so many Chinese and Vietnamese being trafficked to the UK?

Police at the scene where 39 bodies were discovered in a lorry container, in Essex, Britain. Photo: Reuters

epa07946455 People hold a candlelight vigil for the victims that died in a lorry container, in London, Britain, 24 October 2019. A total of 39 bodies were discovered inside a lorry container in Grays, Essex in the early hours of 23 October, and pronounced dead at the scene. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN

epa07402965 A handout photo made available by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) on 28 February 2019 shows a GPO officer holding a marijuana seedling inside a greenhouse during the opening ceremony of the first indoor cannabis farm in Thailand, at GPO facilities in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, 27 February 2019 (issued 28 February). The GPO is to open the first legal marijuana farm which is producing the first legal crop of the plant out of the ASEAN countries. Thailand is intending to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. EPA-EFE/GPO / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Maurice Robinson. Photo: Facebook

Essex truck horror highlights risks desperate migrants take to reach UK

Police have not yet offered an account of what might have happened, but the scene bore the markings of human trafficking. Photo: Reuters

An aerial view as police forensic officers attend the scene after a truck was found to contain a large number of dead bodies, in Thurrock, South England, early Wednesday Oct. 23, 2019. Police in southeastern England said that 39 people were found dead Wednesday inside a truck container believed to have come from Bulgaria. (UK Pool via AP)

epa07943546 Police drive the lorry container along the road from the scene in Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, Britain, 23 October 2019. A total of 39 bodies were discovered inside a lorry container in the early hours of this morning, and pronounced dead at the scene. EPA-EFE/VICKIE FLORES

Vietnam arrests eight in connection with UK truck deaths

A police forensic team inspect the truck in which the 39 bodies were found on October 23. Photo: AP

Catholic priest Anthony Dang Huu Nam holds a candle during a mass prayer for 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London, UK at My Khanh parish in Nghe An province, Vietnam October 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kham

epa07937880 Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers a speech during the opening of the eighth session of the National Assembly's 14th tenure in Hanoi, Vietnam, 21 October 2019 EPA-EFE/MINH HOANG

Vigil held in UK for 39 Vietnamese who died in a truck

A vigil is held at the Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, a Vietnamese church in East London. Photo: AP

02 November 2019, England, London: Candles designed as part of the Mass Prayer Ceremony and the vigil for the 39 victims found dead inside the back of a truck in Grays, at The Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, London's Vietnamese church. Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire/dpa

02 November 2019, England, London: The priest of the Vietnamese Catholic Cathedral Father Simon Thang Duc Nguyen takes part in the mass prayer and vigil for 39 victims found dead inside the back of a truck in Grays, at The Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, London's Vietnamese church. Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire/dpa

TOPSHOT - British Police officers stand on duty at a cordon near to where a lorry, believed to have originated from Bulgaria, and containing 39 dead bodies, was discovered at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, east of London, on October 23, 2019. - British police said 39 bodies were found near London Wednesday in the container of a truck thought to have come from Bulgaria. Essex Police said the people were all pronounced dead at the scene in an industrial park in Grays, east of London. Early indications suggest the victims are 38 adults and one teenager. A 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland has been arrested on suspicion of murder. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)

All 39 truck death victims were Vietnamese, British police say, as Vietnam arrests two in connection with case

A portrait of Bui Thi Nhung, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, is kept on a prayer altar at her house in Vietnam's Nghe An province on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Candles are lit during a prayer for 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London, in front of Hanoi Cathedral in Hanoi, Vietnam October 27, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer NO RESALES NO ARCHIVES

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The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid people traffickers for their clandestine transit into England
The scope of the tragedy became clear as police released the names and ages of those who died in one of Britain’s worst incidents of people smuggling



The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid people traffickers for their clandestine transit into England, in one of Britain’s worst incidents of people smuggling.


Britain

Vietnam

British police reveal 10 teens among 39 Vietnamese found dead in truck last month

The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid people traffickers for their clandestine transit into England The scope of the tragedy became clear as police released the names and ages of those who died in one of Britain’s worst incidents of people smuggling

The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid people traffickers for their clandestine transit into England

The scope of the tragedy became clear as police released the names and ages of those who died in one of Britain’s worst incidents of people smuggling