39 VICTIMS FOUND IN TRUCK FROM CHINA, POLICE SAY

GRAYS, ENGLAND Police were given extra time on Thursday to question a driver arrested on suspicion of murder after 39 people, believed to be Chinese nationals, were found dead in a refrigerated truck near London, in an investigation focused on human trafficking.

Officers searched three properties in the County Armagh area of Northern Ireland. The driver has not been formally identified but a source familiar with the probe said he was Mo Robinson from the Portadown area of the British province.

Paramedics and police found the bodies of 31 men and eight women on Wednesday in a truck container on an industrial estate at Grays in Essex, about 30 kilometres east of London.

Police were given permission to detain the 25-yearold driver for an additional 24 hours on Thursday.