The van in essex park 39 dead
The truck at the Waterglade Industrial Estate. Sky News

 

  • British police found 39 dead bodies in the back of a haulage truck early on Wednesday morning.
  • Essex Police say they were called to an industrial park in Essex, and arrested the truck’s driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, on suspicion of murder.
  • All 39 people, 38 adults and one teenager, were already dead when police arrived, they said.
  • The Guardian, citing police source in Northern Ireland, identified the driver as Mo Robinson, from Portadown, Northern Ireland.

British police say they discovered 39 dead bodies in the back of a haulage truck early on Wednesday morning.

Essex Police were called to an industrial park near the town of Grays, in the eastern English county of Essex at 1:40 a.m. local time (8.40 p.m. ET), after an ambulance had been called, the department said in a statement. Grays is around 23 miles from central London.

All 39 people were dead when police arrived at the scene, police said, adding that 38 are adults and one is a teenager.

Grays Essex
The location of Grays, Essex. Google Maps

 

Police said they arrested the truck driver, a 25-year-old-man from Northern Ireland, on suspicion of murder.

The Guardian, citing police source in Northern Ireland, say the man Mo Robinson, from Portadown, County Armagh.

Essex Police Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner did not identify Robinson, but said: “We have arrested the lorry driver in connection with the incident who remains in police custody as our enquiries continue.”

“This is a tragic incident where a large number of people have lost their lives. Our enquiries are ongoing to establish what has happened,” Mariner added.

The truck entered the UK through the port of Holyhead in north Wales on October 19.

Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said the Scania truck was “registered in the city of Varna under the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen,” Reuters reported.

Pippa Mills, Essex Police deputy chief constable, told news crews at midday on Wednesday that police have yet to identify the bodies.

As reported by Business Insider