Two homes in Northern Ireland were searched during the night of Wednesday to Thursday, British media reported, as part of the investigation on the gruesome discovery of 39 bodies in a truck.
The driver, 25, is from the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland. He was arrested on suspicion of murder and is still under questioning. It is unclear at this point if he knew that people were crammed into the truck he was driving.
The homes searched last night are in Markethill and Laurelvale, both in Armagh County, and could be connected to the driver.
According to investigators, the refrigeration truck travelled from Zeebrugge to Purfleet, England on Wednesday around 1:30 AM. The container was transported by a Northern Irish trailer truck registered in Bulgaria.
"The truck is registered in Varna for an Irish-owned company," the Bulgarian Foreign Minister’s spokesperson said, quoted by several British media, and that it was "very unlikely" that the victims were Bulgarian nationalists.
The convoy left the port an hour after its arrival. Thirty minutes later, emergency services discovered the bodies in the industrial area of Waterglade in Grays, Essex County, and the police were notified.
The identification of 39 victims has begun. There would be 38 adults and a teenager. The police warned, however, that the process of identifying the bodies will be long. No details were given immediately on the victims’ origin or whether they were refugees. Many refugees do attempt to reach the UK by hiding in trucks or boats crossing the English Channel.
The Brussels Times
