Minister of Public Security Gen. To Lam (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA)- Two separate groups of public security and foreign affairs officialsdeparted for the United Kingdom at the weekend, following news that all victimsin the Essex lorry tragedy were believed to be Vietnamese.
Minister of PublicSecurity Gen. To Lam confirmed on November 4 morning that the ministry’smission had arrived in London the previous day.
“The ministry hasassigned a set of tasks, of which the foremost priority is to rapidly confirmthe victims’ identities,” Lam told reporters on the sidelines of the NationalAssembly’s ongoing meeting.
“Our mission has broughtalong various essential documents and DNA samples to match and cross-check withthose of the UK side to reach a final conclusion.”
The minister said thatthe Government would implement citizen protection measures as soon asVietnamese nationals were confirmed as being involved in the case.
“If a Vietnamesenational is identified, we will try to bring them home in the fastest waypossible,” Lam said.
He added that themission could only send their first working report back to Vietnam at 3pm on November4 at the earliest due to the time difference.
The authorities so farare yet to confirm how many missing persons reported by Vietnamese familieswere connected to the Essex lorry case, the minister said.
“Families who lostcontact with their children all assumed they could be among the 39 victims. Butafter a few days, some families found out that their children were still in Vietnamor had gone to another country,” Lam said.
Police in the centralprovinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh received 34 reports of missing persons betweenOctober 24 and November 1. Three families in Nghe An, however, on November 2announced that they managed to contact their thought-to-be-missing memberswho were abroad.
In a statement late on November2 (UK time), Essex police said they believed the victims in the Essexlorry case were Vietnamese, adding that they have identified some of thevictims and have contacted the Vietnamese Government and some families in theUK and Vietnam.
The confirmatoryevidence needed to formally present cases to HM Senior Coroner forconsideration has not yet been obtained, they said.
"This evidence isbeing gathered across a number of jurisdictions worldwide. As a result, wecannot at this time announce the identity of any of the victims,” said thestatement.
Essex police willcontinue to cooperate closely with the Vietnamese Government and others toidentify the victims and offer support to all those affected by this tragedy./.
Minister of PublicSecurity Gen. To Lam confirmed on November 4 morning that the ministry’smission had arrived in London the previous day.
“The ministry hasassigned a set of tasks, of which the foremost priority is to rapidly confirmthe victims’ identities,” Lam told reporters on the sidelines of the NationalAssembly’s ongoing meeting.
“Our mission has broughtalong various essential documents and DNA samples to match and cross-check withthose of the UK side to reach a final conclusion.”
The minister said thatthe Government would implement citizen protection measures as soon asVietnamese nationals were confirmed as being involved in the case.
“If a Vietnamesenational is identified, we will try to bring them home in the fastest waypossible,” Lam said.
He added that themission could only send their first working report back to Vietnam at 3pm on November4 at the earliest due to the time difference.
The authorities so farare yet to confirm how many missing persons reported by Vietnamese familieswere connected to the Essex lorry case, the minister said.
“Families who lostcontact with their children all assumed they could be among the 39 victims. Butafter a few days, some families found out that their children were still in Vietnamor had gone to another country,” Lam said.
Police in the centralprovinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh received 34 reports of missing persons betweenOctober 24 and November 1. Three families in Nghe An, however, on November 2announced that they managed to contact their thought-to-be-missing memberswho were abroad.
In a statement late on November2 (UK time), Essex police said they believed the victims in the Essexlorry case were Vietnamese, adding that they have identified some of thevictims and have contacted the Vietnamese Government and some families in theUK and Vietnam.
The confirmatoryevidence needed to formally present cases to HM Senior Coroner forconsideration has not yet been obtained, they said.
"This evidence isbeing gathered across a number of jurisdictions worldwide. As a result, wecannot at this time announce the identity of any of the victims,” said thestatement.
Essex police willcontinue to cooperate closely with the Vietnamese Government and others toidentify the victims and offer support to all those affected by this tragedy./.
VNA
