London, October 26: The police on Saturday charged a lorry driver with the manslaughter of 39 people who were found dead inside a refrigerated trailer. The man, identified as Maurice Robinson, is a 25-year-old who was arrested after the bodies were found in Grays on Wednesday. The dead bodies were of 31 men and eight women, said reports. Essex police said the victims were believed to be from China, reported AP. The case shook the world and made headlines across the globe after the bodies were found.

Earlier, the British police had expanded investigation into one of the country’s deadliest cases of human smuggling after 39 people were found dead in a refrigerated container truck near an English port.

A magistrate gave detectives another 24 hours to question the driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland who has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He has not been charged, and police have not released his name. Pippa Mills, deputy chief of Essex Police, said the process of conducting post-mortem examinations and identifying the victims would be “lengthy and complex.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2019 11:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).