4th suspect arrested as UK truck deaths case probe deepens

A fourth person was arrested in connection with the deaths of 39 people found in the back of a container truck in southeastern England, British police said Friday as the investigation into one of the country's worst human smuggling cases geared up.

Police said a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland was arrested Friday at England's Stansted Airport on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. The arrest came after police arrested a man and a woman, both 38 and from northwestern England, earlier Friday on the same charges. The 25-year-old driver of the truck remains in custody on suspicion of murder.

The new arrests came as police began the grim process Friday of conducting post-mortem examinations of the dead. The remains of 11 people from the truck were transported Thursday by ambulance from the Port of Tilbury to a mortuary under police escort.

Essex Police said 31 men and eight women were found dead in the truck early Wednesday at an industrial park in Grays, a town 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of London.

Although UK police said they believed the dead were Chinese citizens, Chinese officials told reporters in Beijing the nationalities and identities of the victims had not yet been confirmed.

The Vietnamese Embassy in London confirmed Friday that it contacted police about a missing woman feared to be one of the dead. An embassy spokesman said it was contacted by a family in Vietnam who says their daughter had been missing since the truck was found.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China was working in cooperation with local authorities.

"No matter where these victims come from, this is a great tragedy which drew the attention of the international community to the issue of illegal immigration," she said.

"The international community should further strengthen cooperation in this area, strengthen sharing of information and intelligence ... to prevent such tragedies from happening again."
"Such a serious humanitarian disaster occurred under the eyes of the British and Europeans," the newspaper said. "Britain and the related European countries have not met their responsibility for protecting these people from dying in such a manner."