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| Essex lorry deaths: Two held on suspicion of manslaughter | Essex lorry deaths: Two held on suspicion of manslaughter |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Two people have been arrested on suspicion of the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Essex. | Two people have been arrested on suspicion of the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Essex. |
| The man and woman, both 38, from Warrington, Cheshire, were also held on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic. | The man and woman, both 38, from Warrington, Cheshire, were also held on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic. |
| The BBC has spoken to the families of three Vietnamese people who are worried their relatives may have been in the trailer. | |
| The family of one woman say she sent a text saying she was suffocating. | |
| They say Pham Tra My, 26, sent the message on Tuesday night and they have not been able to contact her since. They said they had paid £30,000 for her to be smuggled to Britain. | |
| Two other families have also been in touch with the BBC. They are relatives of a 26-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman. | |
| The victims were 31 men and eight women and Essex Police initially said they were all believed to be Chinese. | |
| They were found at an industrial estate in Grays at 01:40 BST on Wednesday. | |
| Detectives are still questioning the lorry driver on suspicion of murder. | Detectives are still questioning the lorry driver on suspicion of murder. |
| Police have been given extra time to question driver Mo Robinson, of County Armagh in Northern Ireland, who was arrested on Wednesday. | |
| Post-mortem examinations are due to start later after the first 11 bodies were moved from Tilbury Port to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. | Post-mortem examinations are due to start later after the first 11 bodies were moved from Tilbury Port to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. |
| Private ambulances continued transporting more of the 39 bodies from the refrigerated lorry trailer to the mortuary on Friday. | |
| The trailer arrived in Purfleet on the River Thames from Zeebrugge in Belgium at 00:30 on Wednesday. | The trailer arrived in Purfleet on the River Thames from Zeebrugge in Belgium at 00:30 on Wednesday. |
| It left the port shortly after 01:05 the same day and the bodies were found in the trailer at Waterglade Industrial Park about 30 minutes later. | It left the port shortly after 01:05 the same day and the bodies were found in the trailer at Waterglade Industrial Park about 30 minutes later. |
| Police said recovering the bodies would take time and the dignity of the victims was its primary concern. | Police said recovering the bodies would take time and the dignity of the victims was its primary concern. |
| The Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, said he had sent a team to Essex to help verify the identity of the victims. He added that their nationality was yet to be confirmed. | The Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, said he had sent a team to Essex to help verify the identity of the victims. He added that their nationality was yet to be confirmed. |
| Essex Police believes the lorry arrived in Holyhead in north Wales on Sunday, having travelled from Dublin. | Essex Police believes the lorry arrived in Holyhead in north Wales on Sunday, having travelled from Dublin. |
| Global Trailer Rentals Ltd told RTE News it owned the trailer and said it had been hired on 15 October. | Global Trailer Rentals Ltd told RTE News it owned the trailer and said it had been hired on 15 October. |
| Tracking data from the trailer shows it had travelled between cities in Belgium and France, including Dunkirk, Bruges, and Lille, in the days before the discovery, sources said. | |
| Do you have any information to share about the incident? If it is safe for you to do so please get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. | |
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