Police have released the details of two men they wish to speak to in relation to the deaths of 39 people found in a lorry in Essex.

Ronan Hughes, 40, from Armagh in Northern Ireland, and his brother Christopher, 34, also from Armagh, are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking, Essex Police said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Hooper, who is leading the investigation, said: ‘Finding and speaking to the Hughes brothers is crucial to our investigation.

‘At this time, we believe they are in Northern Ireland but they also have links to the Irish Republic.

‘If you know where they are or have any information about their whereabouts I need you to call my team.’

The bodies of eight women and 31 men were found in a refrigerated trailer attached to a lorry in an industrial park in Grays, Essex, in the early hours of last Wednesday.

The driver of the lorry, Maurice Robinson, appeared in court yesterday, charged with a number of offences, including 39 counts of manslaughter.

Three other people arrested in connection with the incident – a 38 year-old man, a 38 year-old woman, and a 46 year-old man – have all been released on bail until November.

Essex police say identification of the victims will take some time, and after a number of families from Vietnam expressed their fears that their loved ones were among the victims, are appealing for more people from the community to come forward to help with identification.

All of the victims have since been moved from the vehicle to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford for post-mortem examinations to be carried out.

It is not yet known when the victims entered the trailer, where temperatures can be as low as minus 25C if the fridge is activated, or the exact route it travelled.

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