Police in the central province of Nghe An have arrested eight people in relation to the case of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex, the UK a fortnight ago. 

Major General Nguyen Huu Cau, Director of the Nghe An
provincial Department of Police. Photo: VGP

 Major General Nguyen Huu Cau, Director of the provincial Police Department told reporters on the sidelines of the 8th working session of the 14th National Assembly on Monday morning.

Cau said the local police have coordinated with central competent agencies to collect and test fingerprints of 21 people suspected of having relations to the case.

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said the Essex case is the “serious humanitarian tragedy” following the UK police’s announcement saying the Essex victims are thought to be Vietnamese.

“We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest sympathy to families of the victims and hope they will soon overcome such the huge loss,” said the Spokesperson.

Immediately after hearing the case, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry directed the Consular Department and Embassy in London to coordinate with relevant agencies and localities of Viet Nam and the UK, provide information related to the case to support identification of nationality of the victims, open hotlines to receive information and prepare citizen protection measures in case Vietnamese are among the victims, Hang said.

On November 3, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc extended his deepest condolences to families of the Essex lorry tragedy after he received latest reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Phuc, who is now in Bangkok, Thailand to attend the 35th ASEAN Summit and related Summits, tasked the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promptly send delegations to the UK to collaborate with the host country’s competent authorities to settle related issues.

The Government chief also asked local authorities to take measures to condole families of the victims to help them overcome such huge loss./.