Ten teenagers - including two 15-year-old boys - were among 39 Vietnamese migrants killed in Essex truck tragedy, reveal police as they release names of victims after breaking harrowing news to their families
- Police have named the 39 Vietnamese migrants who died in the Essex lorry
- The group include 10 teenagers, two of whom were just 15 years old
- Vietnamese families who feared their loved ones had died have been told
The group of migrants who died in a lorry container which was shipped to Essex included 10 teenagers, two of whom were just 15, it emerged today.
The Vietnamese group were found in the back of the refrigerated truck in Grays, Essex in the early hours of October 23.
Police today released the names, ages and home provinces of all of those who perished in the air-tight container.
The group were made up of eight women, three boys and 28 men. The eldest was 44 and the youngest was 15.
The announcement will confirm the worst fears of many families in Vietnam, who had not heard from their loved ones and feared they were among those who perished.
Pham Tra My, 26, has been confirmed as among the 39 people who died in a lorry in Essex
Fifteen-year-old Nguyen Huy Hung (left) was the youngest of the group, 10 of whom were teenagers. Nguyen Dinh Lurong, 20, (right) was also named among those who died
Anna Bui Thi Nhung, 19, (left) and cousins Nguyen van Hung, 33, (centre) and Hoang Van Tiep, 18, (right) are also among the dead
Carpenter Le Van Ha, 30, father-of-two Vo Ngoc Nam, 28, and Nguyen Dinh Tu, 26, have also been named among the dead
Thirty of the group were from Vietnam's poverty-stricken provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, which are said to be the heartlands of the country's trafficking trade.
The group died in a container, which had been shipped to the Essex port of Purfleet from Zeebrugge in Belgium.
The driver of the lorry, Mo Robinson, 25, has appeared in court charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.
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Extradition proceedings have started to bring another lorry driver, 22-year-old Eamonn Harrison, from Ireland to the UK.
Harrison, of Newry in Co Down, Northern Ireland, appeared at Dublin High Court last week charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, along with human trafficking and immigration offences, and was remanded in custody.
Detectives are also hunting Ronan Hughes, 40, and his brother Christopher, 34, who are said to have links with the road haulage and shipping industries, to hand themselves in.
The group were were from five provinces in the central, coastal area of Vietnam and two provinces near Hanoi
A police officer at the scene where the lorry was discovered in Grays, Essex, on October 23
The vast majority of those named today are from Ha Tinh and Nghe An.
The two coastal districts sit on the Gulf of Tonkin between Vietnam and China – an area of the South China Sea considered one of the world's richest fishing grounds.
But a toxic spill three years ago destroyed stocks – earning it the nickname 'the poisoned coast' – and many young people have seen the decimation of the industry as a further incentive to be trafficked abroad by gangsters charging up to £30,000 per person.
Lorry driver Mo Robinson (left) has been charged with manslaughter. Eamonn Harrison (right) faces extradition over the deaths
Police are hunting Ronan Hughes (left) and his brother Christopher (right)
Speaking after the names were announced today, Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith said: 'This was an incredibly important process and our team has been working hard to bring answers to worried families who fear their loved one may be among those whose tragic journey ended on our shores.
'Our priority has been to identify the victims, to preserve the dignity of those who have died and to support the victims' friends and families.
'It remained of paramount importance to us to ensure that an individual's next of kin were informed, and that they were given some time to absorb this tragic news before we publicly confirmed their loved one's identity.
'We have worked closely with the National Crime Agency, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Vietnamese Authorities to identify and locate their families.
Her Majesty's Senior Coroner, Mrs Caroline Beasley-Murray said: 'May I take this opportunity to offer my deepest condolences to the victims' families. My thoughts are with them at this unimaginably difficult time.'
We can confirm having liaised with the Vietnamese authorities that the people who died were:
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