Nguyen Huu Cau, head of the police department in Nghe An

Nguyen Huu Cau, head of the police department in Nghe An Province, said as of November 3, they had arrested eight people while investigating a human trafficking ring to the UK.

"We'll keep expanding the investigation," he said. "There's no official confirmation about how many Vietnamese were in the Essex lorry deaths."

After the case was reported, Nghe An police quickly set up an investigation team on October 27 and found out that there were 24 missing cases. As of November 4, three people had contacted their families, bring the missing cases down to 21. Some people were gone since 2017 and last August.

"The majority of them left between April to August 2018," Cau said.

They have worked with other agencies to carry out DNA tests on 21 people suspected to be Vietnamese and investigate suspects in a human trafficking ring. They will ask for directives from the higher authorities about helping families bringing the bodies of the victims home. There is a report that a family were given a refund after the deadly incident.

"This is a tragedy and a huge loss. The families are being very co-operative with the police. We should focus on how to help the families bring the victims' bodies home," he said. Dtinews

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