Eight suspects have been held in Vietnam after 39 people were found dead in a lorry in Essex.<\/p>\n
The arrests came as a team of Vietnamese officials arrived in Britain to help formally identify the 31 men and eight women.<\/p>\n
The suspects are being held in relation to people smuggling offences, the director of police in the Nghe An province in north-central Vietnam said.<\/p>\n
Two people were arrested in the Ha Tinh province of Vietnam last week.<\/p>\n
The victims were discovered in a refrigerated lorry trailer on an industrial estate in Grays on 23 October.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Essex Police said all 39 people were believed to be Vietnamese.<\/p>\n
The force initially said it believed they were Chinese.<\/p>\n
Essex Police said it was now in “direct contact with a number of families in Vietnam and the UK” and the Vietnamese Government.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the incident a “serious humanitarian tragedy”.<\/p>\n
Post-mortem examinations are being carried out on the victims to establish the cause of their deaths.<\/p>\n
More than 100 people attended a service for the victims at the Church of the Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in east London on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
The driver of the lorry, Maurice Robinson, from Northern Ireland, appeared in court last week charged with a string of offences, including 39 counts of manslaughter.<\/p>\n
Extradition proceedings have also begun against 22-year-old Eamonn Harrison, who was arrested in Dublin on a European Arrest Warrant.<\/p>\n
Police are also seeking two brothers from Northern Ireland<\/a>, Ronan and Christopher Hughes, who are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and people trafficking.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"