39 victims found dead in UK were Chinese nationals, report says
39 people who were found dead in a truck in Essex, England were Chinese nationals, local media reported on Thursday.
- World
- Reuters
- Published Date: 01:21 | 24 October 2019
- Modified Date: 05:21 | 24 October 2019
The 39 people found dead in the back of a truck on an industrial estate near London on Wednesday were Chinese nationals, ITV News reported Thursday.
Essex Police were unavailable for comment.
Investigators were trying to piece together the movements of a large cargo truck found Wednesday containing the bodies of 39 people in one of Britain's worst people smuggling tragedies.
The truck's driver — a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland — was arrested on suspicion of murder. He has not been charged and his name has not been released.
U.K. police are revising their theories about the truck, saying it traveled from Belgium to England, not from Ireland as they thought earlier.
Essex police said Wednesday that their earlier statement that the truck went from Ireland to Wales was incorrect. They now say it went from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet in England via a ferry.