39 bodies, including one teenager, found in a lorry container in Essex - UPDATES

Richard Spillett & Mark Duell
MailOnline
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 11:03 UTC

Police have found 39 dead bodies in the back of a lorry container on an Essex industrial estate

Police have launched one of the UK's biggest ever murder probes after the bodies of 39 people, including one teenager, were found in the back of a lorry in Essex. An ambulance crew made the horrific discovery after they were called to the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays in the early hours of this morning. None of those inside the lorry were able to be saved and police later arrived and cordoned off the scene, which is near the Dartford Crossing.

The lorry is originally from Bulgaria and had entered the UK at the Welsh port of Holyhead, Wales, where ferries arrive from Ireland. It has been suggested that those on board may have been trying to get into Britain through the 'weak point' of Ireland. The lorry's driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police have not said where the people who died are from or where they were thought to be travelling to.

Police said it may take a long time to identify those found inside. The truck driver is currently being questioned by detectives. The fact that the lorry arrived at Holyhead on Saturday suggests those who died may have been in the back of the vehicle for at least four days.

It is known the lorry had originally come from Bulgaria and entered the UK in Holyhead on Saturday

A member of the Freight Transport Association (FTA) said the lorry could have got a ferry from France to Ireland, then driven through Ireland before boarding another boat to Britain. Seamus Leheny said:

'If the lorry came from Bulgaria, getting into Britain via Holyhead is an unorthodox route. People have been saying that security and checks have been increased at places like Dover and Calais, so it might be seen as an easier way to get in by going from Cherbourg or Roscoff, over to Rosslare, then up the road to Dublin. It's a long way around and it'll add an extra day to the journey.'

It is the biggest disaster of its kind since 2000, when 58 Chinese stowaways died on a ferry from Belgium to Britain. Today's tragedy has claimed more victims than the Manchester Arena bombing, in which 22 were killed.

It has been suggested the lorry may have taken a roundabout route through southern Ireland to Dublin, then on a ferry to north Wales

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Society, added 'this tragedy highlights the danger of migrant gangs people-smuggling on lorries'. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is 'appalled' by the tragedy and that his thoughts are with those who lost their lives and their loved ones. He tweeted:

'I'm appalled by this tragic incident in Essex. I am receiving regular updates and the Home Office will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened. My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives & their loved ones.'

The industrial estate is next to the Dartford Crossing and is used as a stopping point for lorries travelling south to the Port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel, although the planned route of the lorry involved is unknown. A restaurant worker in the industrial estate, who did not want to be named, said the area was cordoned off by police this morning. The Big Blue Food Bus employee said:

'There's a lot of police and forensics. We've just seen what has been said online. It's awful. We thought maybe someone had broken into a lorry, but it's just awful. People trafficking is a vile and dangerous business. This is a big investigation for Essex Police. Let's hope they bring these murderers to justice.'

Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner said:

'This is a tragic incident where a large number of people have lost their lives. Our enquiries are ongoing to establish what has happened. We are in the process of identifying the victims, however I anticipate that this could be a lengthy process. We believe the lorry is from Bulgaria and entered the country at Holyhead on Saturday, October 19 and we are working closely with our partners to investigate. We have arrested the lorry driver in connection with the incident who remains in police custody as our enquiries continue.'

The investigation will now try to work out where the people came from and what route they had taken to get to the UK. Local resident Paige Wade was driving past the industrial park at 4.15am on the way home from work. She said:

'I had just finished work while driving up Motherwell Way and all you could see was blue flashing lights, as I was driving past there was police tape to cordon off the start of eastern avenue. I knew it was serious because of how many police cars and ambulances were there, but the police had parked their cars across the whole access of the road so you couldn't see anything. There's always lorries around there as they park up there for the night, I couldn't say whether I did or didn't see the actual lorry in question.'

Comment:

Update 24 Oct, 15:00 CET

The dead bodies were reportedly Chinese migrants. RT reports:

The 39 migrants who were discovered dead in a refrigerated truck container at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, in the early hours of Wednesday morning were Chinese nationals, police have confirmed.

"...eight of the deceased are women and 31 are men and all are believed to be Chinese nationals," the police confirmed.

They have launched an inquiry and are continuing to question the driver of the lorry, Mo Robinson, 25, who was arrested on suspicion of murder.

The police had initially stated that the vehicle had entered the UK via Holyhead in north Wales, but have since confirmed that the trailer had arrived separately into Purfleet, Essex, on the River Thames, from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Authorities have revealed that the tractor unit - the front part of the truck that hauls the container - came from Northern Ireland and had picked up the trailer at Purfleet. The lorry and trailer left the port at Purfleet shortly after 01:05.

And from the BBC:

Three properties in Northern Ireland have been raided and the National Crime Agency is working to establish if "organised crime groups" were involved. [...]

Councillor Paul Berry said the village of Laurelvale in County Armagh, where the Robinson family live, was in "complete shock".

He said he had been in contact with Mr Robinson's father, who had learned of his son's arrest on Wednesday through social media.

"The local community is hoping that he [Mo Robinson] has been caught up innocently in this matter but that's in the hands of Essex Police, and we will leave it in their professional hands to try to catch the perpetrators of this," he said.

The lorry has been moved to a secure site at Tilbury Docks and police have begun the process of moving the bodies to a mortuary at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. They will be taken by private ambulance under police escort so that post-mortem examinations can take place, with the force expecting all the bodies to have been moved by the weekend.

Essex Police said it was the largest murder investigation in the force's history and the victims were all "believed to be Chinese nationals."

It said formal identification of the 39 people, one of whom is a young adult woman, "could be a lengthy process".

China's ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming tweeted that the embassy had read the reports of the deaths "with heavy hearts" and was in close contact with British police.

[...] A spokesman for the Bulgarian foreign affairs ministry said the truck was registered in the country under the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen.

UPDATE 27 Oct

Turns out the victims are not Chinese; they're Vietnamese.

And that's not the only strange 'misplacement' of nationalities going on. All the 'Irish' suspects involved are Northern Irish - more specifically, given their backgrounds, they would very much see themselves as British.