U.K. police are looking for two brothers in connection to the deaths of 39 people found in a refrigerated truck container in Essex last week.
Brothers Ronan Hughes, 40, and Christopher Hughes, 34, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking, Essex police said in an update. Ronan also goes by the name “Rowan.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Hooper said the brothers may be in Northern Ireland and have ties to the Irish Republic. “Finding and speaking to the Hughes brothers is crucial to our investigation,” Hooper, who is leading the investigation, added.
British newspaper The Times reported that Ronan was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail for smuggling 6 million cigarettes hidden inside fruit crates in 2009. He paper added that he is the owner of the blue Scania truck used to transport the victims in a container to Zeebrugge, Belgium, before the container was taken to the U.K.
Ronan also leased that container, according to the paper, and the driver of that truck, 23-year-old Eamon Harrison, was arrested on Oct. 26 on unrelated charges.
Essex Police, the Northern Ireland Police, and Irish State Police, are working together to search for the Hughes brothers, reported BelfastLive.
We want to speak to Ronan Hughes & his brother Christopher as part of our investigation into the deaths of 39 people whose bodies were found in #Grays.
Ronan (left) & Christopher (right) are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter & people trafficking.
Read: https://t.co/mbiyDMUded pic.twitter.com/pe37U1Hkdf
— Essex Police (@EssexPoliceUK) October 29, 2019
So far, four people have been arrested in connection to the deaths.
The driver of the truck, 25-year-old Maurice “Mo” Robinson, was charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, and money laundering. Robinson, of Northern Ireland, is set to appear in court on Nov 25.
The other three, a 38-year-old man and 38-year-old woman of Warrington, U.K., and a 46-year-old man from Northern Ireland, have been released on bail, police said.
Hooper asked anyone with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
“You may think the piece of information might be insignificant but even the smallest detail could be vital so please contact my officers on 101 or online at: the UK Police Major Incident Public Reporting site,” he said in the statement.
“I appreciate you may not want to speak to the police so you can also contact Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
The bodies of 31 men and eight women were found early on Oct. 23 in an industrial park in southeastern England.
The victims were initially believed to have been Chinese, but many Vietnamese families have since come forward worrying that their children may be among the dead, reported the BBC.
Up to 24 families have reported to local authorities their missing children as of Sunday afternoon, VNExpress website reported. Police said their investigation includes over 500 exhibits, including mobile phones which have to be downloaded to help identify the victims.
“We are working hard to understand how the 39 victims of this tragic incident have died and to identify all those involved,” said Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore. “We remain open-minded as to nationalities of those who have died. We are asking anyone who may have information that may assist us in identification to come forward to us.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
