Police given extra time to question lorry driver
“Detectives investigating the murder of 39 people in Grays have secured a warrant of further detention from local magistrates at Basildon for a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland.
“The man, a lorry driver, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and will now remain in custody for up to an additional 24 hours,” said Essex Police.
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Hide AdEssex Police confirmed the tractor unit entered the UK via Holyhead after travelling on board a ferry from Dublin on Sunday October 20.
The lorry then collected the trailer, which had travelled from Zeebrugge in Belgium, at the port of Purfleet at around 12:30am on October 23.
The tractor unit and trailer left the port shortly after 1.05am.
The container and the 39 dead people were first reported to police by the East of England Ambulance Service at 1:40am
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Hide Ad“We want to be clear – we have not speculated about the identity of this man, and we will not do so,” said Essex Police on Thursday morning.
“We can confirm that three properties in County Armagh have been searched in connection with our investigation,” they added.
Police confirmed all 39 men and women found in the lorry container were Chinese nationals.
It has been reported that 31 of the dead were men and eight were women.