This archive report was first published on 26 October 2019.
Published on October 26, 2019, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland was charged with manslaughter and trafficking conspiracy in connection with the deaths of 39 people found in a refrigerated truck in southeastern England.
The driver, Maurice Robinson, was identified on Saturday and also faces 39 counts of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering when he appears at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Robinson was originally arrested on suspicion of murder after the grisly discovery in Essex, England, this past week spurred an investigation that stretched beyond Britain's borders to Belgium, China, Ireland, and Vietnam.
The charges were announced on Saturday shortly after the police in Ireland said they had arrested another man from Northern Ireland at Dublin Port in connection with an unrelated offense, but local news outlets reported he was wanted for questioning in the investigation of the truck deaths.
Another truck driver, Eamon Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge in County Down, Northern Ireland, was detained on a bench warrant on charges of assault and criminal damage in the Republic of Ireland, according to The Irish Times.
The Essex Police initially announced that the eight women and 31 men found dead in the truck container were Chinese citizens, but since then, community groups in Vietnam have said they believe some may have been from that country.
The police in Britain said the identification of the victims and verification of their nationalities would take some time, but the dearth of information has not stopped some Vietnamese from mourning victims they believe were once part of their community.
