LONDON, Oct 24: British police have confirmed that 39 people found dead in a container truck near an English port were Chinese citizens.

The Essex Police force says the dead found Wednesday in the southeastern city of Grays included 31 men and eight women. The force says one victim previously thought to be a teenager was a young adult woman.

The 25-year-old truck driver, who is from Northern Ireland, is being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder but has not been charged. Police in Northern Ireland have searched three properties there as they try to reconstruct the path of the truck and the victims’ final journey.

British police on Thursday also raided two sites in Northern Ireland and questioned a truck driver as officers investigate the death of the 38 adults and one teenager. The victims were found Wednesday in a truck container at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, a town 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of London.

The truck and the trailer with the people inside apparently took separate circuitous journeys before ending up on the grounds of the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of London on the River Thames.

British police said they believe the container went from the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet, England, where it arrived early Wednesday.

A National Crime Agency assessment report on serious and organized crime last year said there was a “greater focus” on rising smuggler numbers in Belgium after the closure of the Dunkirk migrant camp in 2017.

 
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