The devastated relatives of one of the youngest victims from the Essex lorry tragedy have finally been reunited with her body as she was repatriated to Vietnam today.
Family members gathered around the coffin of Bui Thi Nhung, 19, at the family home as they prepared to say their emotional final goodbyes.
She was one of 39 Vietnamese nationals who had attempted to be smuggled to Britain in the cramped confines of a refrigerated lorry last month, but tragically died after being trapped inside it for 10 hours.
The last of the group’s remains were repatriated to their home country on Saturday, with photos showing their arrival of of 16 coffins and seven urns at the Hanoi airport having been flown in from London.
They were loaded into ambulances on a foggy morning for a trip to their hometowns in several provinces in northern and central Vietnam.
Shortly after noon on Saturday, the body of one victim, 19-year-old Bui Thi Nhung, arrived at Phu Tang church in the village of Do Thanh.
Devastated family members gathered around the coffin of Bui Thi Nhung, 19, at the family home as they prepared to say their emotional final goodbyes after her body is repatriated back to Vietnam
Shortly after noon on Saturday, the body of one victim, 19-year-old Bui Thi Nhung, arrived at Phu Tang church in the village of Do Thanh
More than 100 Catholic villagers and family members waited for the body’s arrival at a highway leading to the village. They held white flowers, standing by the side of the road as the ambulance carrying the body passed
All the victims have been confirmed to have come from central or northern Vietnam. Pictured: Victim Anna Bui Thi Nhung (left) with sister Bui Thi Loan
The impoverished villages the victims hailed from have largely been left out of the economic development that has turned urban centers in Vietnam such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi into boom towns, sending many on a risky journey looking for a better life abroad
A funeral will be held for Nhung at her home on Sunday, followed by a ceremony at the church before the burial
The last of the group’s remains were repatriated to their home country on Saturday, with photos showing their arrival of of 16 coffins and seven urns at the Hanoi airport having been flown in from London
More than 100 Catholic villagers and family members waited for the body’s arrival at a highway leading to the village. They held white flowers, standing by the side of the road as the ambulance carrying the body passed.
After 15 minutes at the church, the mourners moved to Nhung’s home nearby. One of Nhung’s nieces held her portrait to lead the procession.
Nhung’s coffin was placed in the middle of the living room of the one-story house, with the family weeping by the sides. Relatives and neighbors came into the home to place incense.
A funeral will be held for Nhung at her home on Sunday, followed by a ceremony at the church before the burial.
The bodies were found Oct. 23 in the English town of Grays, east of London. Police said the victims were aged between 15 and 44. While no cause of death has been officially established, the circumstances suggested asphyxiation.
The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid human traffickers for their clandestine transit into England. Several suspects have been arrested in the U.K. and Vietnam.
Vietnamese officials examine a box containing an urn of remains of one of the victims as they begin delivering them to their families
Ambulances carrying bodies of victims found dead in a truck container in Britain from Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, Vietnam back to their families as the repatriation process nears completion
Nguyen Dinh Gia visits the newly built grave of his son Nguyen Dinh Luong at the homeland cemetery in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam. His body was found by police after they stopped the refrigerated lorry transporting him and 38 other near Grays in Essex
The process of identifying the bodies who died in the container has taken just over two weeks, with the Identification Commission, overseen by the coroner for Essex, using fingerprints, DNA, dental records and distinctive body markings
An initial set of 16 bodies were handed over to their families on Wednesday, and funerals were held the following day.
The impoverished villages the victims hailed from have largely been left out of the economic development that has turned urban centers in Vietnam such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi into boom towns, sending many on a risky journey looking for a better life abroad.
Maurice Robinson, 25, who is accused over the deaths of 39 migrants, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to plotting to assist illegal immigration
The process of identifying the bodies who died in the container has taken just over two weeks, with the Identification Commission, overseen by the coroner for Essex, using fingerprints, DNA, dental records and distinctive body markings to confirm the victims’ names.
All the victims were later confirmed to have come from central or northern Vietnam, with most being in their 20s and 30s, along with 10 teenagers and two in their early 40s.
Lorry driver Maurice ‘Mo’ Robinson, who is accused over the deaths of the 39 migrants, pleaded guilty to plotting to assist illegal immigration.
The 25-year-old, of Craigavon, Northern Ireland, was arrested shortly after the bodies of eight females and 31 males were discovered in the container attached to his Scania cab in an industrial park in Grays, Essex, early on October 23.
Robinson, who is known as Mo, appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from Belmarsh prison for a plea hearing. He faces 39 counts of manslaughter, a count of conspiracy to traffic people, and one charge of concealing criminal property.
Today he admitted acquiring criminal property and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, but entered no pleas to the other counts. He will appear in court again next month.
The victims included (top row, left to right) Pham Tra My, 26, Anna Bui Thi Nhung, 19, Nguyen Huy Hung, 15, and (middle row, left to right) Nguyen Dinh Lurong, 20, Vo Ngoc Nam, 28, Hoang Van Tiep, 18, and (bottom row, left to right) Nguyen Dinh Tu, 26, Nguyen van Hung, 33, and Le Van Ha, 30
The group were were from five provinces in the central, coastal area of Vietnam and two provinces near Hanoi