Police identify 39 people found dead in truck as Chinese nationals

[Beringia]

Source: CNN

London (CNN)All 39 people who were found dead in a truck in a UK industrial park on Wednesday were Chinese nationals, British police said Thursday, as officers in England, Northern Ireland and Belgium scrambled to establish the chain of events that led to the tragic incident. The cause of death of the eight women and 31 men has yet to be established, Essex police said in a statement. The victims were discovered in a container at the back of the truck, at an industrial park in Grays, Essex, a town 20 miles east of London.

Police believe the container came from Belgium into England early Wednesday, while the journey of the truck that transported it is believed to have originated in Northern Ireland. Belgium's federal prosecutor, Eric van der Sypt, told CNN that a people-trafficking investigation has been opened.

Road haulage experts said the truck appeared to be refrigerated. That could mean freezing temperatures of anywhere between -5 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit (-20C to -23C), making conditions "absolutely horrendous" for anyone stuck inside, said Richard Burnett, chief executive of trade body the Road Haulage Association.
Burnett told CNN "it is definitely a refrigerated trailer... based on how it looks. 100%." What is unclear is whether the refrigeration was switched on and when exactly the Chinese nationals entered the container.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/24/uk/essex-truck-lorry-intl-gbr/index.html

[2naSalit]

1. A refrigerated trailer means

that it is capable of being temperature controlled when in use. Such trailers would suck to be inside while the vehicle is in motion... they have deeply grooved floors for fluids to drain out. Those poor people. If they suffocated it means the vents were closed and the unit probably wasn't on.

[OnlinePoker]

3. This reminds me of season 2 of The Wire. n/t

[3Hotdogs]

2. Probably suffocation. Those containrs are sealed to maintain temperature.

I doubt the refrig unit was on. That would cost money to operate and for no purpose.

[2naSalit]

4. True...nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Maybe Vietnamese among them - text message from a possible victim

Vietnamese family fears daughter may be among Essex lorry victims

In the message to her mother, feared to have been sent in her final moments, the 26-year-old wrote that she was struggling to breathe and apologised.

The message, translated into English by a family acquaintance, was received at 4.28am on Wednesday morning in Vietnam, a screenshot shows. This would have been 10.28pm UK time, when the trailer carrying the victims would have been in transit – and just four hours before the ambulance was called and the bodies were discovered.

In messages from an account nicknamed ‘daughter’, Pham wrote: “I’m sorry Mum. My journey abroad hasn’t succeeded. Mum, I love you so much! I’m dying because I can’t breathe ... I’m from Nghen, Can Loc, Ha Tinh, Vietnam ... I am sorry, Mum.” One message has been blanked out because it mentioned the family’s address.

The screenshot also shows that Pham has not accessed the account since Wednesday.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/25/vietnamese-family-fears-daughter-among-essex-lorry-victims

10:28pm would have been while it was at sea.

[Beringia]

6. Thanks

[abqtommy]

7. There are many citizens of Vietnam who are Ethnic Chinese, sad to say in this context.

[Skittles]

8. this is just horrible

[Beringia]

9. So it has been 4 whole days the medical examiners have had

to look at the bodies, and still no word on how they died. I would think they could determine how they died in a matter of hours after examining 2 or so of the bodies.

[Beringia]

10. All 39 people were Vietnamese

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/europe/vietnamese-migrants-europe.html?login=google&auth=login-google


That journey proved fatal last week for 39 people, who were found dead in a refrigerated truck container in Essex, southeastern England. The Essex police said Friday that they were believed to be Vietnamese.