(VOVWORLD) - 39 Vietnamese people found dead inside a refrigerated trailer in Essex, northeast of London, last October, died of oxygen deprivation and overheating in an enclosed space, British police said on Tuesday.
 Police at the site where 39 bodies were found in the lorry trailer at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex on October 23, 2019 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) |
The police revealed their conclusion while pushing ahead with their investigation and identification of the victims.
Gheorghe Nica of Basildon in eastern England, was detained at Germany’s Frankfurt airport on January 29. One day later, in Chelmsford, UK, Nica was charged with 39 counts of manslaughter and one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
A second man was arrested in Northern Ireland on February 2 on suspicion of manslaughter and facilitating unlawful immigration.
Another suspect from Northern Ireland, Eamonn Harrison, is being held in Ireland on charges of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. He has a Dublin High Court hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The UK will not be able to seek his extradition from Ireland because the alleged offenses took place in Belgium.
Prosecutors allege that Harrison drove the container to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, where it was put on a ferry to England and picked up at the other end by Maurice Robinson. Robinson, who also is from Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and possession of unlawfully obtained property but denied 41 other charges, including 39 counts of manslaughter.