This archive report was first published on 26 October 2019.
On October 26, 2019, British police launched an investigation into the deaths of 39 people found in a refrigerated truck at Purfleet on the River Thames estuary.
Police arrested Maurice Robinson, a 25-year-old from Northern Ireland, shortly after the bodies were discovered, and charged him with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, and money laundering.
Robinson was arrested after the truck arrived on a ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge early on Wednesday, October 23, 2019.
He is set to appear in court on Monday, Essex police said.
Three other people have been arrested in Britain in connection with the investigation, on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter.
They include a 38-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman from Warrington in northwest England, reportedly a couple, and a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland.
Irish police also announced the arrest of a man in his early 20s from Northern Ireland at Dublin port on Saturday.
