Essex lorry deaths: 39 Vietnamese migrants suffocated in container, court hears

Unsent messages recovered from mobiles reveal occupants feared they would not survive

Thirty-nine desperate Vietnamese migrants suffocated as they were transported across the Channel, enduring unbearable temperatures, sealed in pitch darkness inside an airtight container for almost 12 hours, the Old Bailey has heard on the opening day of the trial of four men allegedly involved in a people smuggling conspiracy.

The people smugglers who organised the transport of the migrants loaded too many people into one container, starving them of oxygen and exposing them to the toxic effects of excess carbon dioxide, the court heard. The migrants, 10 of whom were teenagers, travelled in a refrigerator unit, but the refrigeration was not turned on, and temperatures rose to 38.5C during the journey.