Man charged over deaths of 39 people in a truck in UK

LONDON/NGHEAN(VIETNAM): British police said on Saturday they have charged a man arrested, after a refrigerated truck was found earlier this week with 39 bodies inside, with manslaughter and people trafficking.

Maurice Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland, faces 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.

Earlier, as many as 20 Vietnamese citizens are feared among the 39 people found dead, families and community organisers said, as one of the alleged truck owners denied involvement.

Four people have been held over the incident, which has shed light on trafficking routes into Europe taken by undocumented migrants. Many Vietnamese families fear their relatives, who may have been carrying fake Chinese passports, are among the victims.

Britain-based community group VietHome said it received “photos of nearly 20 people reported missing, age 15-45” from Vietnam.

Nguyen Dinh Gia told AFP he got a call from his son two weeks ago saying he was planning to go to Britain where he hoped to work in a nail salon. His 20-year-old son Nguyen Dinh Luong had been living in France and said the journey would cost $14,000. Gia received a call days ago from a Vietnamese man saying “please have some sympathy, something unexpected happened”, he recounted.

A Vietnamese woman Pham Thi Tra My is also believed to be among the victims after her family received a text message from her hours before the migrants were discovered.