Essex lorry deaths: Three arrested in connection with 39 fatalities are released on bail

1/35
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Three people who were held in connection with the 39 lorry deaths in Essex were today released on bail.

The 38-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman from Warrington had been arrested on Friday, while a 46-year-old man from Northern Ireland was held at Stansted Airport later the same day.

All three had been questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people.

Essex Police said the man and woman from Warrington have been bailed until November 11, while the man from Northern Ireland was bailed until November 13.

Their collective releases come after Maurice Robinson, 25, was charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering on Saturday. He is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Maurice Robinson

Meanwhile, police in Vietnam have taken DNA samples from relatives of people feared to be among the 39 found dead in the lorry.

Essex Police has been trying to identify the bodies, which were discovered on Wednesday in a container on an industrial estate in Grays.

Lorry deaths: Families in Vietnam await news

Initially, officers believed the victims were Chinese, but a number of Vietnamese families have since come forward saying they have not heard from their relatives.

The force said very few of the victims were carrying official identification and that it hopes to identify them through fingerprints, dental records and DNA, as well as photos from friends and relatives.

And the fathers of Joseph Nguyen Dinh Luong and Pham Thi Tra My, believed by their families to have died in the lorry, said Vietnamese police had visited them to collect hair and blood samples.

Pham Thi Tra My

"Police from the Public Security Ministry came to get DNA samples, our hair and blood," Nguyen Dinh Gia told Reuters in the Ha Tinh province.

Meanwhile, Pham Van Thin, Ms Tra My's father, told Sky News on Sunday: "We tried to talk her out of it because it would be a very difficult journey for her as a girl.

"But she said: 'If I don't go, the family would stay in a very difficult situation because of the big debt.' So she took a risk and decided to go, and we had to agree."

He added: "We all have been in shock. I cannot explain our pain and devastating feeling. We were all very devastated and sad."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in