United Kingdom police identify truck victims, say 10 teenagers among 39 dead

Police have released the names of all 39 Vietnamese nationals who were found dead in a lorry in Essex last month, with the victims including two 15-year-old boys.

In a letter to the families earlier this week, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the tragedy had caused them and Vietnamese people worldwide "endless pain".

Nguyen Huy Hung, a 15-year-old boy from Nghi Xuan district in Ha Tinh province, had left his rural village for Britain, to join his parents.

"This is an important step in the investigation and enables us to work with our Vietnamese Police colleagues to support the families of those victims", Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith said.

"It remained of paramount importance to us to ensure that an individual's next of kin were informed, and that they were given some time to absorb this tragic news before we publicly confirmed their loved one's identity".

The 31 males and eight women were found in a truck container on an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, not far from docks on the River Thames, in the early hours of October 23.

The trailer containing the 39 victims came to Britain from Belgium but its path before that is less clear.

Mr Hughes and his brother Christopher Hughes have been in hiding since last week when Essex Police said they were persons of interest in connection to the deaths. Her family had been unable to contact her since the text arrived saying she was suffocating. "My journey overseas doesn't succeed", she wrote.

He has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering. Mom and dad I love you so much!

Vietnamese authorities have detained 11 people there for facilitating travel abroad with the intention of staying overseas illegally, but none have been formally charged. I'm dying because I can't breathe.

In Ireland, 22-year-old Eamonn Harrison was arrested on a British warrant. Essex police in Britain said they had started extradition proceedings to bring him to the U.K.to face charges of manslaughter. "Mom, I'm so sorry".

Five arrests have been made in the United Kingdom, in connection with the deaths.