Essex lorry deaths: Vietnamese migrants called relatives while suffocating, court hears

London trial hears detailed account of journey taken by 39 victims and messages sent

Desperate attempts to call family members and the Vietnamese emergency services were made by migrants as they realised they were suffocating in a shipping container during their sea crossing to England, the Old Bailey has heard.

The criminals accused of organising the transportation of 39 Vietnamese people may have squeezed two loads of human cargo into one lorry, out of a greedy desire to secure the 10,000 a head payment from each passenger, the court was told. Temperatures inside the container rose rapidly, and the oxygen ran out well before the container arrived in the UK.