Man wanted in connection with 39 migrant deaths held in Dublin

PA Reporters

A man wanted by Essex Police as part of the investigation into the 39 lorry trailer deaths has been arrested at Dublin port.

Gardai said the man, who is in his early 20s and from Northern Ireland, was held over an unrelated outstanding court order and will appear in court on Saturday afternoon.

He is understood to be sought by Essex Police as part of their investigation into the deaths of 8 women and 31 men found in the refrigerated trailer in an industrial park in Grays in the early hours of Wednesday.

Four other people arrested over the deaths, including a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland who was detained at Stansted Airport on Friday on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter, remain in custody.

(39 people were found dead in the refrigerated trailer in an industrial park in Grays on Wednesday.)

A man and woman both aged 38, from Warrington were arrested on suspicion of 39 counts of manslaughter and people trafficking.

Meanwhile a 25 year old man from County Armagh was arrested on suspicion of murder on Wednesday.

In Belgium, police are hunting the driver who delivered the trailer to Zeebrugge, the port it left before arriving in the UK.

It comes after the Vietnamese ambassador to the UK met with detectives as they work to identify the bodies.

Essex Police initially believed the victims were Chinese nationals.

(Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore )

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore told reporters on Saturday the nationality of the victims is not yet known, but the focus is now on the Vietnamese community - although "there may be other nationalities involved".

He said he had met with the Vietnamese ambassador Tran Ngoc An in Essex and will share fingerprints in a bid to identify the dead.

All of the bodies have now been moved from the truck in Tilbury Docks to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, for post-mortem examinations to be carried out.