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| Tuesday June 20, 1:38 PM |
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The 58 suspected illegal immigrants found dead in a lorry in Dover died from "respiratory failure", according to initial tests.
Superintendent Dennis McGookin, who is leading the inquiry, also revealed that the 54 men and four women appeared to be in their early twenties and from the Fujian district of China.
He appealed to Chinese people in the UK and overseas for help in investigating how the people came to be in the lorry.
The driver of the Dutch-registered lorry in which the bodies were found continues to be questioned at a Kent police station on suspicion of manslaughter, he confirmed.
He told a press conference that the two survivors from the lorry remain in hospital and would be "of enormous value to our investigation".
Superintendent McGookin said anyone with information of use to police should ring Kent Police's casualty bureau on 0645 441551.
Post mortems have been conducted on just over half of the bodies.
"This was clearly a horrific death," said Superintendent McGookin.
He promised a "very thorough, efficient investigation" and pledged that those responsible for smuggling the human cargo into the UK "will be brought to justice".
Sixty officers have been assigned to the case.
He said that the UK police investigation had involved contact with the Chinese Embassy in London, police authorities in Beijing, and police officers in The Netherlands.
The two survivors of the Dutch lorry uncovered with the bodies of 58 suspected illegal immigrants have started telling police of their tragic journey.
Speaking through a translator, the two have been recalling the physical and mental trauma of their journey.
They are said to have described the screams of the trapped passengers, and told how they banged on the door to try to escape. It is unclear if they have yet been told the extent of the death toll.
The two men are being treated at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, and their condition is described as "comfortable".
It is expected that the men will be moved to an unnamed police facility and they are being guarded amid fears that criminal gangs may wish to silence them.
Police say they expect to question the men "probably today" after getting the all-clear from doctors to talk to them.
A further man wanted for questioning, a Dutch man named as Arjan Van der Spek, 24, who registered the lorry last Thursday, is being hunted by Dutch police after disappearing from his home.
The 58 bodies were found in the early hours of Monday in the back of a sealed Dutch-registered lorry, which arrived from Zeebrugge in Belgium. Three Dutch police officers are in Dover to help the UK police with their investigations.
The National Crime Squad, which is spearheading a new drive against traffickers, has also offered to assist.
The deaths have prompted the EU to speed up measures to curb human trafficking.
EU leaders promised in a joint statement to work with Europol, the law enforcement agency, to track down the traffickers and impose severe penalties.
Speaking at a two-day summit in Portugal, Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok said the discovery of the bodies in a refrigerated lorry showed the "intense necessity" for more effective measures.
He said: "Words fail to describe how serious the situation is. The trade in human beings is increasing by leaps and bounds."
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