More Vietnamese fear relatives among 39 dead in truck
HANOI (AP) — More Vietnamese families came forward yesterday with information their relatives may be among the 39 people found dead in the back of a container truck in southeastern England.
British police initially said they believed the victims were Chinese but acknowledged this was a “developing picture.”
A representative for VietHome, a UKbased organization of the Vietnamese community, said it sent the pictures of nearly 20 people reported missing to the police.
Police on Friday arrested three people on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people.
The 25-year-old driver of the truck remains in custody on suspicion of murder.
In Vietnam, the father of 20-year-old Nguyen Dình Luong feared his son was among the dead.
He told The Associated Press he had not been able to reach him since last week, when he told his father he would join a group in Paris that was trying to reach
England.
He said his son left home in central Ha Tinh province to work in Russia in 2017, then on to Ukraine. In April 2018, he arrived in Germany then travelled to France. He told his family that he wanted to go to the UK.
The Vietnamese embassy in London said Friday that it contacted police about a missing woman feared to be one of the dead. An embassy spokesman said it was contacted by a family in Vietnam who says their daughter had been missing since the truck was found.
The BBC reported it had been in contact with six Vietnamese families who feared their relatives are among the victims. Relatives of 26-year-old Pham Tra My told the broadcaster they had been unable to contact her since receiving a text Tuesday night saying she was suffocating.
“I’m so sorry mom and dad .... My journey abroad did not succeed,” she wrote. “Mom, I love you and dad very much. I’m dying because I can’t breathe .... Mom, I’m so sorry.”