More arrests over truck tragedy

All 39 people found dead in a refrigerated container truck in England last week were Vietnamese nationals, British police have said, as three more people were arrested in Ireland and Vietnam in the sprawling international investigation into what appears to be a peoplesmuggling tragedy.

British detectives initially said the victims discovered near the southeastern port of Purfleet on October 23 were from China, but families in Vietnam have contacted authorities there with concerns for missing relatives.

Essex Police Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith said yesterday that ‘‘at this time, we believe the victims are Vietnamese nationals, and we are in contact with the Vietnamese government’’.

He said police thought they had traced the relatives of some of the dead.

Vietnam’s embassy in London said it was ‘‘deeply saddened’’ at the news and sent ‘‘heartfelt condolences’’ to the victims’ families.

British police have charged 25-year-old Maurice Robinson, from Northern Ireland, with 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. They say he drove the cab of the truck to Purfleet, where it picked up the container, which had arrived by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Two people suspected of organising a people-smuggling operation in Vietnam were arrested in Ha Tinh province yesterday following reports from 10 families there of missing relatives, VTV television reported.

Colonel Nguyen Tien Nam, deputy chief of Ha Tinh provincial police, was quoted as saying the suspects were directly involved in the case, in which people paid smugglers to be taken to England and are now feared to be among the bodies found in the container.

Police said the suspects had been organising people smuggling in the area for several years.

In Ireland, a 22-year-old man was arrested on a British warrant. Essex Police said they had started extradition proceedings to bring him to the United Kingdom to face charges of manslaughter.

A spokesman for the Dublin High Court said Eamonn Harrison, of Newry in Northern Ireland, appeared in court yesterday and was ordered detained until a hearing on November 11.

British police asked two other suspects, Northern Irish brothers Ronan and Christopher Hughes, to turn themselves in. Police said they had already spoken with Ronan Hughes by phone but wanted to talk to the two in person.