Two brothers are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter over 39 people found dead in a lorry in Essex.<\/p>\n
Ronan Hughes, 40, and Christopher Hughes, 34, from Armagh in Northern Ireland, are also wanted by police on suspicion of human trafficking.<\/p>\n
The 39 bodies were found in the lorry trailer on an industrial estate in Grays on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Police believe the Hughes brothers are in Northern Ireland but say they have links to the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n
The driver of the lorry, Maurice Robinson, also from Northern Ireland, appeared in court on Monday charged with a string of offences, including 39 counts of manslaughter.<\/p>\n
Det Ch Supt Stuart Hooper said: “Finding and speaking to the Hughes brothers is crucial to our investigation.<\/p>\n
“This is a case where 39 men and women have tragically died and support from the community is going to be vital to help bring those responsible to justice.”<\/p>\n
Essex Police said Ronan Hughes also goes by the name Rowan and asked for those with information about their whereabouts to contact officers.<\/p>\n
Three other people arrested – a 38 year-old man, a 38 year-old woman, and a 46 year-old man – have all been released on bail.<\/p>\n
Another driver, who is suspected of bringing the container to Zeebrugge before it crossed the Channel, was arrested at the port of Dublin on Saturday on unrelated charges.<\/p>\n
But Irish police, who are liaising with their Essex counterparts, said the man was the driver of a blue truck seized at Dublin port as part of the ongoing investigations into the 39 deaths.<\/p>\n
Police had initially believed the 31 men and eight women discovered dead in the refrigerated container in the early hours of Wednesday morning were Chinese.<\/p>\n
But a number of Vietnamese families have come forward fearing their loved ones are among the dead.<\/p>\n
Pham Thi Tra My, 26, sent her family a message on Tuesday night, saying her “trip to a foreign land has failed”.<\/p>\n
The BBC understands from Vietnamese government sources that officers from national and provincial police departments are ready to travel to the UK to assist with the inquiry.<\/p>\n
Vietnamese police have taken DNA samples from the hair and fingernails of some of the relatives of suspected victims to help with the identification process.<\/p>\n
News agency Reuters said British police have sent documents relating to four of the dead to Vietnamese police.<\/p>\n
It reported that Vietnam’s deputy foreign minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong said his country and Britain were “trying to speed up identification of the bodies, but no deadline has been set”.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"