'WIDER CONSPIRACY'
COPS are to ID victims by their fingerprints amid fears 100 migrants were smuggled to the UK in a three-lorry convoy.
This comes as Maurice "Mo" Robinson was charged today with manslaughter after the bodies of 39 migrants were found in the back of his truck on Wednesday.
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CCTV of lorry in which the bodies of 39 people were found dead in Grays, Essex, making its final journey
The Northern Irishman, 25, was charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic humans, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.
Police today arrested a 23-year-old man at Dublin Port by Gardai after getting off a ferry at the port this afternoon.
However, while it was previously reported that the 23-year-old had been detained in relation to the probe into the lorry tragedy, Essex Police has told Sun Online that he is being held on offences "unconnected" with the 39 deaths.
The statement read: "We are in liaison with the Garda police in relation to an arrest they have made today at Dublin Port.
"At this point he is only being processed by the Garda in relation to unconnected offences to the Essex Police investigation."
The blue Scania truck that he was driving has since been impounded by police. His arrest brings the total number to five.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
- The bodies of 39 migrants were found in a lorry after it was picked up from Purfleet, Essex, on October 23
- Driver Maurice 'Mo' Robinson has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic humans, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering
- Three others have been arrested in connection with the tragedy
- Cheshire couple Thomas and Joanna Maher - who allegedly once owned the lorry - have been detained and remain in custody
- They are being held on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter
- Mr Robinson reportedly phoned the emergency services 20 minutes after he picked up the lorry
- He will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on October 28
Lorry driver Robinson, was arrested after driving the truck from Purfleet to Grays on Wednesday morning.
He is believed to have called emergency services after discovering his passengers had frozen to death.
Haulage boss Thomas Maher and wife Joanna, both 38, were held in Warrington, Cheshire, on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and 39 counts of manslaughter.
Last night cops confirmed a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland, had been arrested at Stansted Airport on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter.
HUNT FOR ID
In Friday's press briefing, Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore said forensics were working hard to establish the identity of the deceased, but still needed "more time".
But he revealed cops had been working with Vietnamese authorities on the case, including sharing forensic evidence such as finger prints. He said other nationalities "may be involved".
DCI Pasmore said there were "very, very few" identification papers found among the lorry container victims.
He said investigating officers, through post-mortems, would be looking for tattoos, marks or scars that could help the identification process.
He explained information coming from the Vietnamese community, including from abroad, was being collated.
DCI Pasmore added: "Having met this morning with the Vietnamese ambassador, we are already agreeing a method of sharing fingerprints which may be a fast-track method of identifying some of our victims."
He said officers may have to try and track down families to get DNA comparisons to help identify the victims.
The DCI also urged migrants who may be able to help ID the victims to take a "leap of faith" and said they would be "supported" by UK police if they came forward.
He told reporters: "We know we have people coming into the country, either being trafficked or asylum seekers.
"More and more chances are being taken.
"It must be clear, criminals, murderers are taking more and more chances with these vulnerable people and the risk is massive.
"Will it happen again? I really hope not. But it could well do."
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc today ordered local authorities to establish whether Vietnamese citizens were among those found on October 23.
Phuc also ordered the police to launch an investigation into alleged human trafficking activities.
'A NEW LIFE'
It comes as relatives of the lorry trailer victims fear as many as 100 migrants were smuggled in three lorries in a "convoy" to the UK.
Two of the vehicles are thought to have completed their trips but the third, which was carrying the 39 deceased migrants, was delayed at an unknown location, reports.
However, the eventual destinations of the two other containers are not known. Sky News said it was unable to independently verify the accounts.
Father Anthony Dang Huu Nam, a Catholic priest from Vietnam's Nghe An province, said he was aware of more than 100 people who were travelling to "a new life".
"A few families confirmed the deaths of their relatives who are the victims of this tragic journey," he said.
Earlier he said he thought most of the victims were from neighbouring impoverished provinces in Vietnam.
A father of one of those suspected to have died said: "He was on that truck. All 39 was dead and he must be one of them. He is gone now. There is nothing left of him. He died."
Earlier today cops confirmed they were hunting for a second lorry driver who was caught on CCTV dropping off an "icy coffin" migrant trailer in Belgium.
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GRIM DISCOVERY
The grisly discovery is one of Britain's biggest-ever mass murder probes after the bodies were found on an industrial estate in Grays on Wednesday.
The distraught family of Pham Thi Tra My, 26, are now frantically scrambling for information after paying £30,000 to smuggle her to the UK.
She sent her family chilling messages saying she was "dying" and couldn't breathe as the doomed trailer was on its way to the UK from Zeebrugge in Belgium.
Relatives of Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, have also said they fear he is among the 39 victims.
Cops have described one of the women as a "young adult" but no other indication of the age of the victims has been released.
Bodies are now being moved by private ambulance with a police escort from Tilbury Docks to Broomfield Hospital so post-mortem examinations can be carried out.
TRACKING THE ROUTE
Cameras in Zeebrugge, Belgium, filmed a lorry ten times as it drove through the security port terminal with 31 men and eight women in the back.
The terminal is managed by Luxembourg-based company CRO, which is believed to have handed footage to the police, reports.
Officers believe the haulier may have transported the 39 migrants to Purfleet in Essex, before lorry driver Robinson picked up the trailer and drove it an additional 11 miles to Grays.
A spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor's office confirmed they are investigating the truck, saying: "We're trying to identify the driver."
He said Belgian authorities were also working to "track the route of the container" and find anyone responsible for "collaborating with the transport".
"We would like people to be arrested as soon as possible," he added.
Just one in every 100 sealed containers are x-rayed at the port, and none are checked for heat, authorities have said.
Joachim Coens, the chief executive of Zeebrugge port, told that x-rays are never used to check for the presence of humans.
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Cops have not yet confirmed the nationalities of the migrants who died in this week's horrific tragedy.
But at least six Vietnamese families have reportedly come forward as they fear loved ones are among the dead.
New data has shown the GPS tracker on the trailer was switched on at 3.06pm on October 15 after travelling from Dublin to Monaghan, near the border with Northern Ireland.
It then stopped at Warwickshire and Kent before crossing the Channel to Belgium, and making its way on to Calais and Dunkirk.
From here, it went back to the UK via Belgium and then repeated the journey before the victims made the perilous 173-mile journey in the refrigerated container to Purfleet.
The container's movements will heighten fears ruthless "Snakehead" Chinese gangs are using ports in Europe to smuggle migrants into the UK.
Joanna Maher was named as the owner of the Scania truck, which was registered in the Bulgarian port of Varna in 2018.
But the couple said they sold the cab a year ago to a company in Ireland after owning it for around 13 months.
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'DEAD FOR SOME TIME'
A pal said: "When he opened the container up and saw all the dead bodies, he was absolutely horrified - as anyone would be - and called the ambulance service who in turn alerted the police.
"I heard the container was refrigerated - the temperature was -25 degrees and the bodies were frozen and had been dead for some time."
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The horror has chilling echoes of 2000, when 58 Chinese stowaways died in a lorry travelling by ferry from Belgium to Britain.
In both tragedies, the victims had come from Zeebrugge in to Purfleet port in Essex.
It has been revealed the GPS tracker on the trailer was switched on at 3.06pm on October 15 after travelling from Dublin to Monaghan, near the border with Northern Ireland.
It then stopped at Warwickshire and Kent before crossing the Channel to Belgium, and making its way on to migrant hotspots Calais and Dunkirk.
FATEFUL JOURNEY
From here, it went back to the UK via Belgium and then repeated the journey before the victims made the perilous 173-mile journey in the refrigerated container to Purfleet.
Robinson meanwhile was in the lorry's cab, which travelled from Holyhead on Saturday, and picked up the container at 12.30am.
Both lorry and trailer then left the port at 1.05am. Less than 35 minutes later ambulance and police made the grim discovery of the 39 bodies in the back.
Global Trailer Rentals Ltd (GTR) have confirmed to RTE News they own the container and that they leased it on October 15 from their yard in Co Monaghan for £238.22 a week.
'NO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL'
Sources close to Irish police said the lorry’s refrigeration unit - which could have plunged temperatures as low as -25C - was turned on, leaving those inside with "no chance of survival".
Even if the trailer was not chilled the victims may have suffered agonising deaths as oxygen slowly ran out.
The Mayor of Zeebrugge, Dirk De Fauw, insists the migrants were dead before they arrived at Zeebrugge, or they would have been detected by heat cameras.
He added: "If you end up in such a box with 39 people, you're going to die."
Cops are investigating whether they were passed between different gangs at borders in Central Asia and Europe before attempting the Channel crossing.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Detectives from the National Crime Agency are now investigating whether an Irish people smuggling gang with links to Bulgaria was behind the horror.
There are also fears the ruthless Chinese "Snakehead" gangs could have masterminded the smuggling plot.
Anyone concerned about relatives following the incident can call a Casualty Bureau on 0800 056 0944 or 0207 158 0010 if ringing from outside the UK.
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