Majority of 39 UK truck victims likely from Vietnam: Priest
26 Oct 2019 04:03PM
World
Vehicles of a funeral home arrive at the Port of Tilbury where the bodies of immigrants are being held by authorities, in Tilbury, Essex, Britain, Oct 25, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Peter Nicholls)
Bookmark
YEN THANH, Vietnam: The majority of the 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London were likely from Vietnam, a community leader from the rural, rice-growing community where many of the victims are believed to have come from told Reuters on Saturday (Oct 26).
The discovery of the bodies - 38 adults and one teenager - was made on Wednesday after emergency services were alerted to people in a truck container on an industrial site in Grays, about 32km east of central London.
Police have said they believe the dead were Chinese but Beijing said the nationalities had not yet been confirmed. Chinese and Vietnamese officials are now both working closely with British police, their respective embassies have said.
Father Anthony Dang Huu Nam, a catholic priest in the remote town of Yen Thanh in northern-central Vietnam's Nghe An province, 300km south of Hanoi, said he was liaising with family members of the victims.
READ: Second Vietnamese family fears son among 39 UK truck dead
British police forensics officers work on a lorry, found to be containing the bodies of 39 people, at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, east of London, on Oct 23, 2019. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall)
"The whole district is covered in sorrow," Nam said, as prayers for the dead rang out over loudspeakers throughout the misty, rain-soaked town on Saturday.
"I'm still collecting contact details for all the victim's families, and will hold a ceremony to pray for them tonight."
"This is a catastrophe for our community."
Nam said families told him they knew relatives were travelling to the UK at the time and had been unable to contact their loved ones.
READ: Three more arrested over 39 dead bodies in truck: UK police
Police are seen at the scene where bodies were discovered in a lorry container, in Grays, Essex, Britain on Oct 23, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Hannah McKay)
Vietnam's foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had instructed its London embassy to assist British police with the identification of victims.
The ministry did not respond to a request for further comment regarding the nationalities of the dead.
Nghe An is one of Vietnam's poorest provinces, and home to many victims of human trafficking who end up in Europe, according to a March report by the Pacific Links Foundation, a US-based anti-trafficking organisation.
READ: UK truck deaths: One victim might have been from Vietnam, says rights activist
In a text message addressed to her mother, Pham Thi Tra My, 26, said that she could not breathe at about the time the truck container was en route from Belgium to Britain, says a human right activist. (Photo: Twitter/Hoa Nghiem)
Other victims are believed to come from the neighbouring province of Ha Tinh, Nam said, where in the first eight months of this year, 41,790 people left looking for work elsewhere, including overseas, according to state media.
The province was ravaged by one of Vietnam's worst environmental disasters in 2016 when a steel mill owned by Taiwan's Formosa Plastics contaminated coastal waters, devastating local fishing and tourism industries and sparking widespread protests.
READ: Truck containing 39 dead entered from Belgium: UK police
A general view of the house of 26-year-old Vietnamese woman Pham Thi Tra My, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, is seen in Vietnam's Ha Tinh province, Oct 26, 2019. (Photo: AFP)
One suspected victim from Ha Tinh, 26-year-old Pham Thi Tra My, had sent a text message to her mother saying she could not breathe at about the time the truck container was en route from Belgium to Britain.
"That girl who said in her message that she couldn't breathe in the truck? Her parents can't breathe here at home," Nam said.
26 Oct 2019 04:03PM
World
Vehicles of a funeral home arrive at the Port of Tilbury where the bodies of immigrants are being held by authorities, in Tilbury, Essex, Britain, Oct 25, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Peter Nicholls)
Bookmark
YEN THANH, Vietnam: The majority of the 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London were likely from Vietnam, a community leader from the rural, rice-growing community where many of the victims are believed to have come from told Reuters on Saturday (Oct 26).
The discovery of the bodies - 38 adults and one teenager - was made on Wednesday after emergency services were alerted to people in a truck container on an industrial site in Grays, about 32km east of central London.
Police have said they believe the dead were Chinese but Beijing said the nationalities had not yet been confirmed. Chinese and Vietnamese officials are now both working closely with British police, their respective embassies have said.
Father Anthony Dang Huu Nam, a catholic priest in the remote town of Yen Thanh in northern-central Vietnam's Nghe An province, 300km south of Hanoi, said he was liaising with family members of the victims.
READ: Second Vietnamese family fears son among 39 UK truck dead
British police forensics officers work on a lorry, found to be containing the bodies of 39 people, at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, east of London, on Oct 23, 2019. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall)
"The whole district is covered in sorrow," Nam said, as prayers for the dead rang out over loudspeakers throughout the misty, rain-soaked town on Saturday.
"I'm still collecting contact details for all the victim's families, and will hold a ceremony to pray for them tonight."
"This is a catastrophe for our community."
Nam said families told him they knew relatives were travelling to the UK at the time and had been unable to contact their loved ones.
READ: Three more arrested over 39 dead bodies in truck: UK police
Police are seen at the scene where bodies were discovered in a lorry container, in Grays, Essex, Britain on Oct 23, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Hannah McKay)
Vietnam's foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had instructed its London embassy to assist British police with the identification of victims.
The ministry did not respond to a request for further comment regarding the nationalities of the dead.
Nghe An is one of Vietnam's poorest provinces, and home to many victims of human trafficking who end up in Europe, according to a March report by the Pacific Links Foundation, a US-based anti-trafficking organisation.
READ: UK truck deaths: One victim might have been from Vietnam, says rights activist
In a text message addressed to her mother, Pham Thi Tra My, 26, said that she could not breathe at about the time the truck container was en route from Belgium to Britain, says a human right activist. (Photo: Twitter/Hoa Nghiem)
Other victims are believed to come from the neighbouring province of Ha Tinh, Nam said, where in the first eight months of this year, 41,790 people left looking for work elsewhere, including overseas, according to state media.
The province was ravaged by one of Vietnam's worst environmental disasters in 2016 when a steel mill owned by Taiwan's Formosa Plastics contaminated coastal waters, devastating local fishing and tourism industries and sparking widespread protests.
READ: Truck containing 39 dead entered from Belgium: UK police
One suspected victim from Ha Tinh, 26-year-old Pham Thi Tra My, had sent a text message to her mother saying she could not breathe at about the time the truck container was en route from Belgium to Britain.
"That girl who said in her message that she couldn't breathe in the truck? Her parents can't breathe here at home," Nam said.
