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| Mystery of 39 Bodies in Truck Leads to More Arrests in U.K. | Mystery of 39 Bodies in Truck Leads to More Arrests in U.K. |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| LONDON — Two more men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter after 39 people were found dead in a refrigerated trailer in southeastern England, the British police said on Friday, the first indication from officials that the deaths were linked to human smuggling. | LONDON — Two more men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter after 39 people were found dead in a refrigerated trailer in southeastern England, the British police said on Friday, the first indication from officials that the deaths were linked to human smuggling. |
| The arrests were announced as officials from at least five countries in two continents tried to piece together the movements of the people in the truck, and China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said it could not confirm that the dead had all been Chinese citizens, as the British police had suggested. | The arrests were announced as officials from at least five countries in two continents tried to piece together the movements of the people in the truck, and China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said it could not confirm that the dead had all been Chinese citizens, as the British police had suggested. |
| The Essex Police said in a statement Friday that they had made two additional arrests in the case, holding a 38-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman from Warrington in northern England. The names were not released. | |
| On Friday evening, another arrest was announced — that of a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland who was taken into custody at Stansted Airport on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and suspicion of manslaughter. | On Friday evening, another arrest was announced — that of a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland who was taken into custody at Stansted Airport on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and suspicion of manslaughter. |
| Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Friday that the British police were working on verifying the identities of the eight women and 31 men found in the truck. | Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Friday that the British police were working on verifying the identities of the eight women and 31 men found in the truck. |
| “We hope that the British side will confirm their identities as soon as possible, ascertain the truth and severely punish those involved,” Ms. Hua said. | “We hope that the British side will confirm their identities as soon as possible, ascertain the truth and severely punish those involved,” Ms. Hua said. |
| There were fears that at least one victim was Vietnamese, according to a social media post on Friday from a rights activist. | There were fears that at least one victim was Vietnamese, according to a social media post on Friday from a rights activist. |
| Much of the case has remained shrouded in mystery since the bodies were discovered early Wednesday in Grays, about 25 miles east of London, after someone called an ambulance. | Much of the case has remained shrouded in mystery since the bodies were discovered early Wednesday in Grays, about 25 miles east of London, after someone called an ambulance. |
| The driver of the truck, identified as Morris Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland, is still being held for questioning by the police on suspicion of murder. He has yet to be charged. | The driver of the truck, identified as Morris Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland, is still being held for questioning by the police on suspicion of murder. He has yet to be charged. |
| The case bears all the marks of a smuggling operation, officials and experts have said, and has links to Britain, China, Belgium, Ireland, Bulgaria and possibly Vietnam. The British authorities were scrambling to investigate who the victims were, who had facilitated their journey and what exactly their movements were. | The case bears all the marks of a smuggling operation, officials and experts have said, and has links to Britain, China, Belgium, Ireland, Bulgaria and possibly Vietnam. The British authorities were scrambling to investigate who the victims were, who had facilitated their journey and what exactly their movements were. |
| On Thursday, the British authorities began removing bodies from the truck, which had been driven to a secure site so that the victims could be removed in a manner that preserved their dignity, officials said. | On Thursday, the British authorities began removing bodies from the truck, which had been driven to a secure site so that the victims could be removed in a manner that preserved their dignity, officials said. |
| The bodies of 11 victims were taken to a hospital to undergo post-mortem examinations, the Essex Police said in a statement, adding that the process was likely to take some time. | The bodies of 11 victims were taken to a hospital to undergo post-mortem examinations, the Essex Police said in a statement, adding that the process was likely to take some time. |
| A Twitter post on Friday by the rights activist Hoa Nghiem revealed that the family of a Vietnamese woman, Pham Thi Tra My, 26, feared she might have been in the trailer. Her younger brother, Pham Manh Cuong, reached by phone on Friday, said his sister had traveled from Vietnam to China in early October, before flying to France. | |
| From there, Mr. Pham said, she attempted to travel to Britain but had been stopped by the police and returned to France. Her relatives said they believed she had then made a second attempt to travel to Britain: They received a frantic message from her around 10:30 p.m. British time on Oct. 22. | From there, Mr. Pham said, she attempted to travel to Britain but had been stopped by the police and returned to France. Her relatives said they believed she had then made a second attempt to travel to Britain: They received a frantic message from her around 10:30 p.m. British time on Oct. 22. |
| “I’m sorry Mom, my path to abroad didn’t succeed,” she wrote. “Mom, I love you and Dad so much! I’m dying because I can’t breathe.” | “I’m sorry Mom, my path to abroad didn’t succeed,” she wrote. “Mom, I love you and Dad so much! I’m dying because I can’t breathe.” |
| They haven’t heard from her since. | They haven’t heard from her since. |
| Vietnam’s Embassy in London confirmed that it had received requests from some Vietnamese families asking for help in verifying whether their relatives were among the victims. It said it was working with British authorities. | Vietnam’s Embassy in London confirmed that it had received requests from some Vietnamese families asking for help in verifying whether their relatives were among the victims. It said it was working with British authorities. |
| During a news briefing on Friday, Pippa Mills, the deputy chief constable of Essex, said that while the police had an “initial steer” on the nationality of the victims, it was now a “developing picture.” | During a news briefing on Friday, Pippa Mills, the deputy chief constable of Essex, said that while the police had an “initial steer” on the nationality of the victims, it was now a “developing picture.” |
| She also urged family members who believed their loved ones may be involved to contact the authorities. | She also urged family members who believed their loved ones may be involved to contact the authorities. |
| “I know you may be worried about speaking to the police,” she said. “I would like to reassure you that we just want to be able to give the victims’ families answers about what has happened. I can’t begin to comprehend what some of you must be going through right now.” | “I know you may be worried about speaking to the police,” she said. “I would like to reassure you that we just want to be able to give the victims’ families answers about what has happened. I can’t begin to comprehend what some of you must be going through right now.” |
| In 2000, 58 Chinese migrants were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Dover, Britain’s busiest port. The authorities said they had asphyxiated in the container, in which cooling and ventilation were switched off. | In 2000, 58 Chinese migrants were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Dover, Britain’s busiest port. The authorities said they had asphyxiated in the container, in which cooling and ventilation were switched off. |
| That container had also been shipped across from Zeebrugge, Belgium, and the authorities later said the immigrants might have been brought from the Chinese coastal province of Fujian by a criminal gang. | That container had also been shipped across from Zeebrugge, Belgium, and the authorities later said the immigrants might have been brought from the Chinese coastal province of Fujian by a criminal gang. |
| The deaths scandalized China at the time and prompted the government to announce a crackdown on human trafficking. But even as China has become the world’s second-largest economy in the 19 years since, the discovery on Wednesday was a reminder that many Chinese people remain mired in poverty and some make desperate attempts to seek better lives abroad. | The deaths scandalized China at the time and prompted the government to announce a crackdown on human trafficking. But even as China has become the world’s second-largest economy in the 19 years since, the discovery on Wednesday was a reminder that many Chinese people remain mired in poverty and some make desperate attempts to seek better lives abroad. |
| Some Chinese attempting to make their way to Western countries pay middlemen known as “snakeheads” to facilitate the journey. It can cost about $50,000 to $60,000 to be smuggled into Europe and $70,000 to $80,000 for the United States, according to Sheldon Zhang, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell who specializes in human smuggling involving Chinese. | Some Chinese attempting to make their way to Western countries pay middlemen known as “snakeheads” to facilitate the journey. It can cost about $50,000 to $60,000 to be smuggled into Europe and $70,000 to $80,000 for the United States, according to Sheldon Zhang, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell who specializes in human smuggling involving Chinese. |
| “Frankly, I am just as shocked to learn that these dead migrants were Chinese nationals,” Dr. Zhang said in an email on Friday. “I thought the snakeheads would have learned by now, from the Dover incident in 2000, not to use the lorries to transport human beings.” | “Frankly, I am just as shocked to learn that these dead migrants were Chinese nationals,” Dr. Zhang said in an email on Friday. “I thought the snakeheads would have learned by now, from the Dover incident in 2000, not to use the lorries to transport human beings.” |
| Many of those who died 19 years ago were economic migrants who came from Fujian province, where businesses in some towns offer “courier services” for people to send their children to the West. | |
| In recent years, experts said, the main regions sending economic migrants have expanded to include the depressed northeastern provinces of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang and Wenzhou, a bustling coastal city in eastern Zhejiang Province. | |
| “There are still a large number of people desperate to leave China and go overseas,” mainly because they think they can make more money, said Ko-lin Chin, a professor at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice who has studied human smuggling in China. | |
| “In the rural areas, there’s a competition going on to see who can build a bigger house,” he added, involving families receiving remittances from abroad. “If you go to the villages and you see a five- or six-story house, you will understand what this is all about.” | |
| Ms. Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, bristled when asked during a news conference about Chinese nationals wanting to make such an arduous trip despite the country’s economic progress. | Ms. Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, bristled when asked during a news conference about Chinese nationals wanting to make such an arduous trip despite the country’s economic progress. |
| “The Chinese people’s sense of happiness, security and satisfaction is unprecedented,” she said, later adding: “If you look around the world, there are many countries with illegal immigration issues. China is not the one with the serious problem.” | “The Chinese people’s sense of happiness, security and satisfaction is unprecedented,” she said, later adding: “If you look around the world, there are many countries with illegal immigration issues. China is not the one with the serious problem.” |
| As investigators in Essex tried to fill a major gap in the timeline of events — when and where the 39 victims had boarded the refrigerated container — Belgian officials on Thursday indicated that the container arrived in the port of Zeebrugge on Tuesday afternoon. | |
| But they said it was still unclear when the victims had entered the container, meaning they could have been inside for longer than the nearly 11 hours between 2:49 p.m. Tuesday, when the container arrived in the Belgian port and 1:40 a.m., when the British police reached the truck. | But they said it was still unclear when the victims had entered the container, meaning they could have been inside for longer than the nearly 11 hours between 2:49 p.m. Tuesday, when the container arrived in the Belgian port and 1:40 a.m., when the British police reached the truck. |
| The container was unaccompanied while it traveled from Belgium across the English Channel to the British port of Purfleet and was collected by the driver, who had entered Britain a few days earlier from Ireland, officials said. | The container was unaccompanied while it traveled from Belgium across the English Channel to the British port of Purfleet and was collected by the driver, who had entered Britain a few days earlier from Ireland, officials said. |
| It is still unclear whether the driver knew what was inside the container he picked up. Shipments to Britain from other parts of Europe are typically sealed until the point of delivery. | It is still unclear whether the driver knew what was inside the container he picked up. Shipments to Britain from other parts of Europe are typically sealed until the point of delivery. |
| Megan Specia reported from London, and Sui-Lee Wee from Beijing. Chau Doan contributed reporting from Hanoi, Vietnam, and Elian Peltier from London. | Megan Specia reported from London, and Sui-Lee Wee from Beijing. Chau Doan contributed reporting from Hanoi, Vietnam, and Elian Peltier from London. |