Britain was shocked by the discovery of 39 bodies in a refrigerated truck trailer at an industrial park in Grays, Essex, on Wednesday last week.
Essex police initially reported that they believed the people to be Chinese nationals, but have since uncovered passengers of other nationalities.
The truck was allegedly being used to traffic people into Britain, but things went horribly wrong when those in the airtight container ran out of oxygen.
This report, from October 23, explains events as they happened:
The bodies have since been removed and the long and difficult process of identifying them has begun.
CNN reports that the Vietnamese government has been contacted by a father who believes that his daughter is one of those who lost their lives in the truck.
The father sent an emergency request to the local authority in Ha Tinh province, about 200 miles south of Hanoi, reporting Pham (below) missing after she left for the UK on October 3, traveling via China and France.
Pham sent text messages to her mother, according Hoa Nghiem, a coordinator with Hanoi’s Human Rights Space, who has been in touch with a family representative. Pham said she could not breathe in what is believed to be her last text to her mother, according to a screenshot shared by Nghiem.
Here is a screenshot of the text which translates as: “I’m sorry Dad and Mom. The way I went overseas was not successful. Mom, I love Dad and you so much. I’m dying because I can’t breathe. Nghen, Can Loc, Ha Tinh, Vietnam. Mom, I am so sorry, Mom.”
No parent should ever receive something like this. It is truly heartbreaking.
The BBC reported Friday it spoke with Pham’s family members, who said they had not heard from Pham since that text, adding that they paid £30,000 ($38,000) for her to be smuggled into Britain.
The investigation is ongoing, but so far a number of people have been arrested, including a 48-year-old man in Northern Ireland, on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people.
A man and a woman, both 38 and from Warrington in northern England, were also arrested on suspicion of trafficking and manslaughter, according to Essex Police.
A 25-year-old Northern Irish truck driver, who was arrested Wednesday, remained in custody on suspicion of murder, police added.
These unnecessary deaths are a reminder of the desperate things that people will do to escape an unliveable situation.
[source:cnn]
