The bodies closest to the doors had foam coming from their mouths
BY PAUL BYRNE and MICK McNIFFE A WOMAN thought to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck sent a harrowing last text message to her mother from the metal container.
Pham Thi Tra My, 26, wrote: “I’m sorry, Mum. My journey abroad hasn’t succeeded. Mum, I love you so much. I’m dying because I can’t breathe.”
It was sent at 10.28pm on Tuesday, three hours before the bodies of eight women and 31 men were found piled up in the sealed refrigerated container.
We can reveal that emergency teams found bloody handprints on the inside of the doors of the metal box.
A source said: “When the door of the container was opened, first responders were shocked to see dozens of dead bodies piled on top of one another.
“The bodies closest to the doors had foam coming from their mouths and were in the early stages of rigor mortis.
“There were bloody handprints all along the inside of the lorry door where they must have been banging for help...
“(The dead people) were wearing little clothing, and in some cases were naked.” Pham Thi Tra My, who is Vietnamese, paid £30,000 to be smuggled into the UK via China and France, her family said.
It raises the possibility traffickers were given nearly £1.2million in total by the
Nguyen Dinh Luong not heard from 39 victims.
Last night, four people had been arrested in connection with the deaths including married couple Joanna and Thomas Maher, both 38, from Warrington, Cheshire.
Police at first thought the victims were all Chinese but at least six Vietnamese families fear their loved ones are among the dead.
The brother of a 19-year-old woman from Vietnam said she called him on Tuesday morning, saying she was getting into a container and was turning off her phone to avoid detection. He has not heard from her since.
The family of Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, said he travelled from Vietnam to France more than a year ago and has not been heard from in recent days.
Police were yesterday questioning the Mahers on suspicion of peopletrafficking and 39 counts of
Zeebrugge manslaughter. Hours earlier, they said they previously owned the Scania lorry cab driven by Mo Robinson, 25, of Laurelvale, County Armagh, who was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of murder after the victims were found dead in the container in Grays, Essex.
The Mahers said they sold the Bulgarian-registered vehicle a year ago to a company in Ireland.
Outside their £250,000 home, Maher, who is understood to be a haulage firm owner, said: “It’s disgusting what’s
SOURCE REVEALS HORROR OF WHAT 999 CREWS FOUND