|  Updated: 

Essex lorry deaths: Police make two new arrests as Vietnamese woman feared to be among victims

By: and

Add as a preferred source on Google
Essex lorry deaths
THURROCK, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Police forensic investigation officers stand near the site where 39 bodies were discovered in the back of a lorry on October 23, 2019 in Thurrock, England. The lorry was discovered early Wednesday morning in Waterglade Industrial Park on Eastern Avenue in the town of Grays. Authorities said they believed the lorry originated in Bulgaria. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Police have arrested two more people in connection with the deaths of 39 people found in a lorry container at an industrial park in Essex, it emerged today.

A 38-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman from Warrington were arrested in Cheshire.

Both have been detained on suspicion to traffic people and on suspicion of 39 counts of manslaughter.

Read more: Essex lorry deaths: Post-mortems on 39 dead to begin

One of the victims is now believed to Vietnamese, despite earlier reports all victims were Chinese nationals.

A Hanoi-based human rights group has named Tra My as potentially being one of the 39 dead, as first reported by Sky News.

Human Rights Space coordinator Hoa Nghiem identified the 26-year-old as being one of the victims on Twitter, saying her family received text messages from the container as she died.

According to Nghiem, she texted: “I’m sorry Mom. My path to abroad doesn’t succeed. Mom, I love you so much! I’m dying bcoz I can’t breath…I’m from Nghen, Can Loc, Ha Tinh, Vietnam… I am sorry, Mom.”

Timestamps indicate the texts were sent on Tuesday evening just hours before the bodies were discovered.

Essex Police previously indicated the victims were Chinese, but on Friday said the “picture may change regarding identification” as the investigation continues.

Meanwhile, BBC News reports that three Vietnamese families have been in touch with fears their loved ones are also among the deceased.

Arrests

So far police have arrested three people in total after discovering the bodies in a container attached to a lorry cab on Wednesday.

The driver of the lorry was arrested on suspicion of murder at the scene where police found the bodies in Grays in the early hours of Wednesday.

The first post-mortems are set to start today on some of the 39 people found dead in the refrigerated trailer at the Waterglade Industrial Park.

An ambulance transported 11 bodies to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford last night as Essex Police stressed that dignity was their primary concern.

Essex Police said: “This is all being done in close liaison with HM Coroner and we continue to work to ensure that the dignity of victims and respect for their loved ones are at the forefront of our investigation.”

Police believe all 39 people who died were Chinese nationals. Eight women, including one young adult women, died, along with 31 men.

However, in their latest statement officers said that the “picture may change regarding identification”.

Chinese ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, has sent a team to the UK to help identify the bodies.

Pathologists undertaking the post-mortem examinations are now looking for clues as to how the people ended up in the lorry trailer, according to one expert.

“Have these people been tortured? Have they been sexually assaulted? Have they been beaten and forced in?” pathologist David Shepherd told the BBC, adding it would be a “very slow, organised process”.

The lorry trailer unit entered the country via Holyhead on Sunday, 20 October from Dublin.

Read more: Essex lorry deaths: More details emerge

The trailer, which had come via Zeebrugge in Belgium, was picked up by the lorry at Purfleet’s port around 12.30am.

Both left the port at 1.04am.

However, Belgium’s public prosecutor said it was not yet clear when the victims entered the container and also where this occurred.