Police have appealed directly to the Vietnamese community in an attempt to help identify the 39 victims who died in a lorry trailer in Essex.

In a video directed to the Vietnamese community in the UK, Detective Chief Inspector Martin Passmore pleaded for people to “trust” him and “to take a leap of faith” by passing on any information they have to help them establish who the deceased are following last Wednesday’s discovery in Grays.

The video, which was posted on Facebook by a member of the Vietnamese community, shows DCI Passmore speaking directly to the camera.

He said: “Meet with my officers who I promise you will help you, we will do everything we can to reunite you with your lost family member. That’s all we want to do.”

He went on to say: “We want to treat you with dignity and with respect and do everything we can to help you.”

The officer was also appealing to people who may be living in the UK illegally. Many Vietnamese people have arrived over the years via lorry trailers and now live and work in the country illegally.

He said: “I promise you, you will not be arrested and we will not be sharing your information with anybody else. So please come forward and let us help you.”

A few hours after the video was posted to Facebook, members of the Vietnamese community and Essex police met at a location in southwest London.

It’s believed some information about potential victims was passed on by Vietnamese people living in the UK.

One man told Sky News after he came out of the meeting: “A family in Vietnam told me they think their 33-year-old son is amongst the 39 who died in the lorry.”

The man, who came to the UK from Vietnam illegally via a lorry 14 years ago, said he passed all his information on to the police at the gathering.

They let him leave and return to Birmingham where he now lives and works in a restaurant.

The priest of the Vietnamese Catholic Cathedral in east London, Father Simon Thang Duc Nguyen, was also in attendance.

He told Sky News after the meeting: “I passed on information I received from one family in Vietnam.

“They told me to contact the police because six relatives – two young women and four men – are missing.”

He also passed on pictures, names and information about the people he believes may be victims of the lorry tragedy.

Meanwhile, the lorry driver accused over the deaths has appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court via a video link.

Maurice “Mo” Robinson was charged on Saturday with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people between 1 December 2018 and 24 October 2019, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration in the same timeframe, and money laundering.

The 25-year-old was further charged with acquiring criminal property and concealing criminal property between those dates.

He was remanded in custody until 25 November when he will appear at the Old Bailey for a further hearing.

Source: Read Full Article