Police say all 39 people found dead in a lorry container at an Essex industrial estate were Chinese nationals, Sky News reports.
The victims, which included a teenager, were discovered at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays in the early hours of Wednesday.
Belgian authorities believe the container was transported to the UK from the port of Zeebrugge at 2.49 pm local time on Tuesday, arriving in Purfleet at around midnight.
CCTV has shown it being driven towards the industrial park at 1.10 am, half an hour before Essex Police were called to the scene.
The discovery echoes an incident in Dover, Kent, in 2000, when 58 Chinese people were also found dead in a container.
The Belgian public prosecutor’s office said it is “not yet clear” when and where the victims were placed in the container, adding that no further information would be released at this time.
Its statement said it would continue to work with the police in the UK to find out what happened.
In other developments, police have raided two addresses in County Armagh in Northern Ireland that are believed to be linked to the driver, who remains in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder.
Mo Robinson, from Portadown, was arrested after the discovery at Waterglade Industrial Park.
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