BELFAST – A second man was charged with manslaughter over the deaths of 39 people found in the back of a truck near London, British police said, as they now believed all the victims were Vietnamese.
In Vietnam, police said they had detained two persons.
The alleged truck driver has already been charged over the deaths, and on Friday detectives said Eamon Harrison, 23, from Northern Ireland, was also accused of 39 counts of manslaughter, human trafficking and immigration offences.
The bodies were found in the early hours of Oct. 23 after the container arrived in Britain from Zeebrugge in Belgium. The container was picked up at Purfleet dock in Essex, east of London, by a truck allegedly driven by Maurice Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland.
The victims were found not long afterwards. Police have not confirmed the exact cause of their deaths.
They initially said the victims were thought to be Chinese, but on Friday said they were now all believed to be Vietnamese.(Reuters)
