-
Second Vietnamese family fears son among 39 UK truck dead

Another Vietnamese citizen is feared among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain this week, after his father told AFP Saturday he received a chilling call to say his son died en route to the UK.
British police initially said all of the 31 men and eight women found in a refrigerated lorry in an industrial park in Grays, east of London, were believed to be Chinese nationals.
But at least two Vietnamese families have now said they fear their relatives are among the victims, who may have been carrying falsified Chinese passports.
Four people have been held over the tragedy, which has shocked Britain and shed light on dangerous trafficking routes into Europe taken by undocumented migrants.
Nguyen Dinh Gia told AFP he got a call from his son two weeks ago saying he was planning to go to Britain where he hoped to work in a nail salon.
His 20-year-old son Nguyen Dinh Luong had been living in France and said the journey into the UK would cost 11,000 pounds ($14,000).
But Gia received a call several days ago from a Vietnamese man saying "Please have some sympathy, something unexpected happened," he recounted to AFP.
"I fell to the ground when I heard that," Gia said.
"It seemed that he was in the truck with the accident, all of them dead," he added.
A 26-year-old Vietnamese woman Pham Thi Tra My is also believed to be among the victims after her family received a text message from her hours before the migrants were discovered.
"I'm sorry Mom. My path to abroad doesn't succeed. Mom, I love you so much! I'm dying because I can't breathe," she said in the message confirmed by her brother Pham Manh Cuong.
He received another message from her a few hours later saying: "Please try to work hard to pay the debt for mummy, my dear," according to a text sent at 12:15 Vietnam time on Wednesday (0515 GMT) and seen by AFP.
The family, who live in a bare home with a corrugated tin roof in central Vietnam, have asked Vietnamese officials to help find the missing woman.
Both suspected victims are from Ha Tinh, an impoverished province in a part of Vietnam where many of the country's illegal migrants come from.
Many have their sights set on Britain, where they end up working in nail salons or on cannabis farms, hoping for quick riches.
They can pay smugglers up to $40,000 for the dangerous journey across eastern Europe -- often via China or Russia -- an enormous sum in Vietnam where the annual per capital income is around $2,400, according to the World Bank.
Those who cannot pay upfront often have to work off their debt to traffickers, which may include a fee for falsified documents.
The truck carrying the migrants arrived in Purfleet on the River Thames estuary on a ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge just over an hour before ambulance crews called the police at 1:40 am.
The driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, was arrested at the scene.
On Friday, three more people were arrested in Britain on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter, British police said.
Investigators started carrying out autopsies Friday to establish how the victims died before the work begins on trying to identify them.
The police investigation is Britain's largest murder probe since the 2005 London suicide bombings.
The Vietnamese embassy in the UK is working to "accelerate the process of confirming the victims' identities", according to a statement from the foreign ministry in Hanoi.
source:AFP
Tags
You May Also Like
Popular Posts
Caricature
BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
opinion
Report
ads
Newsletter
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the new updates!