Murder Investigation Launched After 39 Bodies Found In Truck

This kind of tragedy, it’s just… it’s too horrifying. It’s too much to even comprehend.

The overwhelming news to which we’re referring is the 39 dead bodies found in a truck in Essex in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

39 human beings. Just gone.

In an official statement, Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner of the Essex Police said:

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

We are in the process of identifying the victims. However I anticipate that this could be a lengthy process.

We have arrested the lorry driver in connection with the incident who remains in police custody as our inquiries continue. I appreciate this cordon is going to disrupt the activity of local businesses in the area and we will work to ensure that disruption is kept as short as possible.”

In a press conference later, Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills laid out the facts.

At about 1:40 a.m. local time, police got a call about bodies being found in a truck container at the Waterglade Industrial Park on Eastern Avenue in Grays.

Emergency services arrived on the scene to find everyone in the truck was already dead. Their ages have not been confirmed, but authorities believe there were 38 adults and one teenager.

The truck driver, a 25-year-old from Northern Ireland named Mo Robinson, was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Mills said:

“This is an absolute tragedy and very sad day for Essex Police and the local community. We will continue to work alongside many other partner agencies to find out what led to these deaths.”

Police believe the truck entered the country in Purfleet from Zeebrugge, Belgium; the tractor of the truck was from Northern Ireland, but the container was registered in Bulgaria.

A spokesperson for the Bulgarian foreign affairs ministry confirmed the vehicle’s registration but noted police had informed them “it is highly unlikely” the deceased were Bulgarians.

Given the location of the bodies and their route, police believe the most likely explanation is that these people were being smuggled into the country and died en route.

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, told BBC News the container appeared to be a refrigeration unit, where temperatures would be dangerously close to the freezing point of water. Burnett said conditions for humans spending any time inside would be “absolutely horrendous.”

Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened.

In 2015, the bodies of 71 people were found in an abandoned truck on the highway in Austria; police at the time concluded this was part of a Bulgarian-Hungarian human trafficking operation.

The desperation these people are going through which would inspire them to go through such dangerous methods, we can’t even imagine.

So awful.

See Deputy Chief Constable Mills’ full conference (below):

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