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October 28, 2019

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Identifying dead illegal migrants

Source: AFP | 00:00 UTC+8 October 28, 2019 | Print Edition

Vietnamese officials collected DNA samples yesterday from relatives of those feared among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, security and family said, as villagers held emotional prayers for the victims.

The 31 men and eight women found dead were initially identified as Chinese but several Vietnamese families have come forward saying they believe their relatives are among the dead.

The grim case has cast light on the extreme dangers facing illegal migrants seeking better lives in Europe.

Many of the suspected victims are believed to have come from impoverished villages in central Vietnam, a feeder of illegal migrants chasing promises of riches overseas.

Few were believed to be carrying identification and families in the area have anxiously awaited news of their loved ones.

A security source in Vietnam said that a team had been dispatched to the area yesterday to collect DNA samples from relatives of suspected victims.

“We have started collecting hair and blood samples of families,” according to the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The father of one of the missing men Nguyen Dinh Luong confirmed that samples were collected by police earlier yesterday.

“Police said the results would take time,” Luong’s father Nguyen Dinh Gia said from central Nghe An province.

“They didn’t say when they would be available.”

British police said on Saturday they would try to fast track DNA testing but warned results would not be immediately available.

The Northern Irish driver of the refrigerated trailer discovered in an industrial park on Wednesday in Essex, southeast England, has been charged with manslaughter and people trafficking.

As the investigation played out, worshippers gathered in Phu Xuan village in Nghe An province to pray for the missing, kneeling before a priest who delivered an emotional sermon.

“We gather here to pray for all the 39 victims,” father Nguyen Duc Vinh said before a packed cathedral.

“We don’t know yet whether they were our children,” he added as the congregation sang hymns.

Parents in the area have set up makeshift altars for their missing loved ones, many of whom have not been heard from since the truck was discovered.

The mother of missing 28-year-old man Vo Ngoc Nam said that she last heard from her son days before the container was found.

He messaged to say he was going to Britain from Romania, where he had been working for several months.

“I have been waiting anxiously over the past few days for any news from him but we got nothing,” the stricken mother said.

Local officials visited her home yesterday to gather more information about Nam, as Vietnam’s prime minister ordered government agencies to investigate illegal people smuggling.

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