The UK Police has confirmed that the 39 bodies found in the Essex Lorry deaths are all Chinese nationals, and they are eight women, and 31 men.
According to the report by Standard, the nationalities of the 38 adults and one teenager who died in the freezer container in Essex, were established even though their identities have yet to be confirmed.
The report stated that detectives had on Thursday raided two houses in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, as part of their probe into the Essex Lorry deaths tragedy, while officers in Essex continued to question the driver of the lorry, Mo Robinson, 25. He remains in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder.
Investigations were continuing into the full route the victims of the Essex Lorry deaths had taken before being found dead early yesterday at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex.
Belgian prosecutors said they had “no idea” when the victims in the container, shipped to Purfleet, Essex, from Zeebrugge, had climbed on board or how they had made their way to it.
Their investigation has found the container arrived at Zeebrugge on Tuesday at 2.49 pm local time and left the port the same day. They continue to investigate the lorry’s journey, focusing on who organised the transportation, the UK Evening Standard added.
In a statement authority in Belgium said they would continue to work with the police in the UK to find out what happened.
Eric Van Duyse, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said it is not clear how long the lorry spent in Belgium.
He said: “We have no idea at the moment how long the lorry spent in Belgium, it could be hours or days, we just don’t know.”
As Home Secretary Priti Patel visited Essex Police for a briefing on the investigation, the force said the container holding the victims had been moved to a secure site at Tilbury Docks so that their bodies could be “recovered while preserving the dignity of the victims”.
Ms Patel tweeted afterwards that she had gone to thank officers “for their response to the tragic incident in Grays and receive an update on the investigation”.
The Home Secretary added: “I stand behind them as they continue their work to establish how this horrific event came to happen.”
The latest details come as a friend of the family said Mr Robinson’s father learned of his arrest through social media.
Most attention today, however, was focused on Northern Ireland as the two houses, believed to be linked to Mr Robinson, were searched.
He is understood to have driven the lorry tractor unit, which is registered in Bulgaria in the name of an Irishwoman, onto the mainland via Holyhead in Wales and collected the container 35 minutes after it docked at Purfleet at 12.30 am yesterday.
The bodies were discovered after Mr Robinson drove the lorry with the container attached to Grays. Police said they were called to the scene by ambulance staff at 1.40 am.
One witness had told the standard that Mr Robinson, from Portadown in Co Armagh, had passed out after opening the refrigerator unit and discovering the bodies. But the Police are yet to confirm this, as they have been given more time to interview Mr Robinson who is helping the Police in the investigation, while he is being treated as a possible suspect, even though they might be more people connected to the deaths.