Police officers drive away a lorry (C) in which 39 dead bodies were discovered sparking a murder investigation at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, east of London, on October 23, 2019. (AFP / Ben STANSALL)
LONDON: All the 39 people found dead in a lorry to the east of London are believed to be Chinese, British police said on Thursday, adding that raids had been carried out at three properties in Northern Ireland.
"We have since confirmed that eight of the deceased are women and 31 are men and all are believed to be Chinese nationals," British police said in a statement.
Chinese embassy staff are heading to an industrial park in Britain to verify reports that 39 Chinese nationals were found dead in a truck, the foreign ministry said Thursday.
"The staff of the Chinese embassy in the UK is driving to the scene to verify this situation," the ministry said on its Weibo social account after British media reported that the victims were Chinese.
British police raided two sites in Northern Ireland and questioned a truck driver as they investigated the deaths of 39 people found in a truck container at an industrial park in southeastern England.
The truck's driver - a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland - has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He has not been charged and his name has not been released.
The tragedy recalls the deaths of 58 migrants in 2000 in a truck in Dover, England who had undertaken a perilous, months-long journey from China's southern Fujian province and were discovered stowed away with a cargo of tomatoes after a ferry ride from Zeebrugge, the same Belgian port used in the latest tragedy.
Britain remains an attractive destination for immigrants, even as the U.K. is negotiating its divorce from the European Union. Upon hearing of the latest deaths, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed in Parliament on Wednesday that people smugglers would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
The truck and the trailer with the people inside apparently took separate journeys before ending up at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of London, where it was found overnight Wednesday. British police said they believe the container went from the port of Zeebrugge to Purfleet, England, where it arrived early Wednesday. The truck cab is believed to have come from Northern Ireland.
