New charge laid in UK in mass truck case

A new suspect has been charged in the United Kingdom in connection with the death of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a refrigerated truck near London last October, British police announced on Wednesday 4 March.

Read also: England in shock after the tragic death of 39 illegal migrants

Alexandru-Ovudiu Hanga, prosecuted for helping illegal immigration, was scheduled to appear in court today, police said in a statement. The 27-year-old is from Tilbury, in the south-east of England.

Read also: Influx of migrants: a child died off Lesbos in a shipwreck

At the end of October, the corpses of 31 men and 8 women, including two 15-year-old adolescents, were discovered in the trailer of a truck from Belgium in the Grays industrial area, east of London. The autopsy determined that their death had been caused by "lack of oxygen" and "overheating in an enclosed space" .

Many of the victims came from a poor region in central Vietnam, which somehow makes a living from fishing, agriculture or industry. Families go there in debt to the tune of thousands of dollars to send one of their own to the United Kingdom, via clandestine channels, in the hope that they will find a job there.

Read also: Turkey says migrant killed at Greek border

Several people have already been arrested in connection with this case: the driver of the truck, Mo Robinson, a 25-year-old Northern Irishman, is awaiting trial on 39 counts, including that of manslaughter. A second 23-year-old driver, Eamonn Harrison, is waiting to find out if Ireland, where he is being held, will authorize his extradition to the United Kingdom.

See also - The Drian denounces “the use by Turkey of migrants as a means of blackmail”