2 more arrested after 39 dead body found in Essex truck container

The British Police have reportedly arrested two more people in connection with 39 dead bodies found in a truck on October 25. The two suspects, a man, and a woman both aged 38 are from Warrington in Northwest England and were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. The arrest came after the investigators started to preform the autopsies on the bodies that are believed to be Chinese nationals. 

The Essex police, on October 24, revealed that the 39 victims of the lorry incident were of Chinese nationality. The latest update in the investigation points towards the possibility of organised immigration crime which has been a serious issue for a long period. The National Crime Agency (NCA), in its May report, said that there has been an increase in the use of higher-risk methods of clandestine entry. 

“These include the movement of migrants (including children) into the UK in containers, refrigerated HGVs and small boats, at a high risk to the life of those migrants smuggled,” said the NCA. 

The Foreign Ministry on October 24 reportedly announced that staff from the Chinese embassy were heading to Essex in Britain to verify reports of whether the 39 people who were found dead in a truck were its nationals. The unverified Twitter account attributed to China's UK ambassador, Liu Xiaoming claimed that the Chinese government is in close contact with the UK police who discovered the 39 bodies from a lorry container on Wednesday, October 23.

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READ | China Embassy Staff Visit Essex To Identify Bodies Found In The Truck

The incident

The lorry was found parked in Waterglade Industrial Park in southeast England. Police have launched a multiple-murder investigation and have arrested the 25-year-old lorry driver. All the 39 people, including a teenager, were declared dead at the scene, reported British media. The police, who are now working on the identification of the bodies, stated that it will be a “lengthy process given the scale of the crime". According to media reports, the lorry was registered in Bulgaria and it had entered the county through Holyhead, Wales on October 19. Police have thrown a security cordon at the Waterglade Industrial Park. Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner said the security will affect local businesses in the area but that they will try to ensure the disruption is kept short.

READ | Essex Lorry Deaths: All 39 Victims Were Chinese Nationals, Say Police

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