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All Dead Illegal Chinese Immigrants Identified by Police
All 58 Chinese illegal immigrants who perished in June as they tried to reach Britain in the back of a lorry have been identified, police said Tuesday as the inquest into their deaths opened in London.
Police identified the 54 men and four women after travelling to China to interview the relatives of the victims.
They said they had received full cooperation from the Chinese police, contradicting newspaper reports that the Chinese authorities had been reluctant to allow the British detectives into the country.
The purpose of the inquest is to establish the cause of the immigrants' death. Coroner Richard Sturt immediately adjourned the inquest while a criminal investigation into the tragedy is completed.
A Dutch lorry driver, Perry Wacker, has been charged with manslaughter and a Chinese man and a woman have been charged with conspiracy.
Most of the victims had been provisionally identified by police officers working on the case in Britain.
But the team of British detectives confirmed their identities by travelling to China's Fujian province, where most of the victims were from, and showing photographs of the victims to relatives.
"The Chinese authorities have been liaising with us right from the start," said Detective Inspector Steve Corbishley, deputy leader of the investigating team.
"The whole process has been difficult. It's not like an airline disaster where there are lists of who is travelling and documents to back it up," he added.
"If we look back to the start of this tragedy, I do not think anybody would have believed what we have achieved in this time."
"But we have got to the bottom of it by good, old-fashioned police work and what is important is that the police in China want to get their job done."
It is thought the victims died of suffocation after spending hours in the airtight truck.
Their bodies were discovered by customs officers at the British channel port of Dover as the lorry arrived on a ferry from Belgium.
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