Cops fear long wait for answers

A PRIEST in Vietnam claimed yesterday that the lorry in which 39 migrants were found dead was travelling in a convoy of three – carrying at least 100.

It came as driver Maurice Robinson was charged with the manslaughter of the eight women and 31 men.

The 25-year-old was arrested shortly after the horrific discovery at Waterglade Retail Park in Grays, Essex, in the early hours of Wednesday.

The dead were all thought to be Chinese but at least ten Vietnamese families now say they have not heard from relatives trying to reach the UK.

Father Anthony Dang Huu Nam, a Catholic priest from Vietnam’s Nghe An province, said he was aware of more than 100 people who were trying to reach here for “a new life”.

He said: “A few families confirmed the deaths of their relatives who are the victims of this tragic journey.

“The whole district is covered in sorrow. This is a catastrophe for our community.”

It was claimed the other two containers in t he convoy made it in undetected.

Suspected Vietnamese victims included Anna Bui Thi Nhung, 19, and Nguyen Dinh Tu. Mr Dinh Tu’s heartbroken wife, Hoang Thi Thuong, said he had been working illegally in Romania and Germany before he lost his job.

The family had raised £11,000 for his illicit trip from Germany to the UK.

She said: “I have a big debt to pay, no hope, and no energy to do anything.”

Mr Dinh Tu’s father said relatives in the UK had told him he was inside the truck and they had been planning to pick him up. He said: “They were supposed to pick him up at the drop-off point but they called and said Tu was in that truck. I haven’t heard anything from my son.”

Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, who left Vietnam a year ago and was recently known to be in France, is also feared dead.

Another suspected victim is

Pham Thi Tra My, 26, whose family paid £ 30,000 for a

“VIP trip” to get her smuggled i nto

Britain via China and France.

They said she texted to say she was

“dying” and c ould not breathe. Her father, Pham

Van Thin, said the smugglers did not tell them how she would be transported and had he known he “would not have let her go”.

DCI Martin Pasmore declined to comment on the convoy claims or speculate on the nationalities of the deceased. But he admitted the families’ agonising wait for answers about their loved ones will contin continue. He said: “At every stage we will be treating ou our victims with dignity and respect. There were very v few identification pap papers.

“We are usin using marks, scars and tattoos to t identify victims. All of our ou victims have been recovered recov and they will be un undergoing postmortems.

“The re r e c overy process was forensic and for those th who are thin thinking why does it i take so muc much time to rec recover bo bodies in