The bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered in a refrigerated trailer (PA)

The five men and two women detained by Vietnamese police stand accused of organising or broking others to flee abroad or stay abroad illegally, police in the Ha Tinh province said.

Those who have been charged are Nguyen Thi Thuy Hoa, of Hung Nguyen district; Vo Van Ky and Vo Van Ho, of Dien Chau district; Le Van Hue, of Yen Tanh district; Tran Dinh Truong, of Can Loc district; Nguyen Quoc Thanh, of Ba Lang; and Nguyen Thi Thuy Diem, of Ruian City in Zheijang, China.

Post-mortem examinations listed the provisional causes of death as a combination of hypoxia and hyperthermia, Essex Police said.

Essex Police said an investigative team of 12, comprising police officers and staff, had travelled to south-east Asia to look into the deaths.

Specialists from the National Crime Agency and Vietnamese officers will be joining them for their visits.

Several people, including the lorry driver Maurice Robinson, of Craigavon, County Armagh, have been arrested in connection with the deaths and involvement in an alleged people-trafficking ring.

At the Old Bailey in November, Robinson admitted conspiring to assist illegal immigration and acquiring criminal property, the BBC reported.

He has not yet entered pleas to 39 counts of manslaughter or charges of conspiracy to commit human trafficking and transferring criminal property.

Three other men are accused by the police in the UK in relation to the deaths.

* Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge, County Down, is facing 39 charges of manslaughter as well as charges of conspiracy to traffic people and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

* Earlier this month at the High Court in Dublin, he won the right to appeal against his extradition from Ireland to the UK.

* Christopher Kennedy, 23, from Darkley, County Armagh, denies conspiracy to commit human trafficking offences, assisting unlawful immigration and arranging to facilitate the travel of other people with a view to exploitation.

* Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Mimosa Close in Langdon Hills, Essex, faces 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. He is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 16 March.

SOURCE: PRESS TV