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Agence France-Presse

The father of one of the 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a truck in Britain said on Tuesday he felt sorry for the two men convicted of manslaughter over the deaths.
The bodies of the migrants were found inside a sealed container near London in October 2019, after they suffocated in sweltering temperatures.
Truck driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from Northern Ireland, and Romanian national Gheorghe Nica, 43, were found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter, as well as people smuggling, by a London court on Monday.
They are expected to be sentenced early in January and could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Two found guilty in UK over Vietnamese migrant truck deaths
Nguyen Dinh Gia, father of 20-year-old victim Nguyen Dinh Luong, expressed sympathy for the men.
“I think they only did it because they wanted to make ends meet. I don’t think it’s appropriate to give them a harsh [punishment like] a life sentence,” he said from a small village in Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province. “I feel sorry for them.”
Le Minh Tuan, who lost his 30-year-old son Le Van Ha, hailed the court verdict.
“I think the decision of the UK court that convicted two men of manslaughter is right,” he said from his village in Nghe An province.
“If they had given the migrants inside some air, those people wouldn’t have died. In this case, I think the driver knew, but he kept running the truck and did not give the air to people inside.”
Vietnam jails four people over their role in UK truck deaths
The bodies were discovered at the southeastern English port of Purfleet after being sealed inside the container for at least 12 hours.
A forensic expert calculated it would have taken about nine hours for the air to turn toxic in the trailer.
The victims were aged between 15 and 44.

Prosecutors said the trapped Vietnamese were unable to get a phone signal inside the container.
Mobile phones recovered from the bodies of the 39 victims showed they had tried to raise the alarm and left messages for their families as they ran out of air.
They stole my mum’s organs: a Vietnamese trafficked to UK
The case highlighted the vast and unscrupulous people trafficking networks spanning the globe.
Many of the victims had come from poor parts of Vietnam and were plunged into thousands of dollars of debt to smugglers to pay for the dangerous journeys.


Monday’s convictions brought the total number found guilty in connection with the case in the UK to eight.
Prosecutors at the trial said the people smuggling ring had been motivated by greed, and are considering charges against a further three people.


French court convicts Vietnamese lorry tragedy suspects

Romanian people smuggler jailed in UK for deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in truck

Man hurls firebombs at UK immigration center, kills himself

UK Vietnamese truck deaths: People-smuggler jailed for nearly four years over 2019 deaths of 39 victims

UK truck deaths

UK truck deaths: Vietnamese victims’ families have mixed feelings after two convicted

Nguyen Dinh Gia, the father of victim Nguyen Dinh Luong, kneels in his yard in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam. He said he feels sorry for the two men convicted of manslaughter as they were only trying to make a living. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 10, 2020, Le Minh Tuan, father of the late 30-year-old Le Van Ha who was among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain last year, cries in front of his son's prayer altar in their house in Vietnam's Nghe An province. - A father of a Vietnamese migrant who suffocated to death in a truck in Britain alongside 38 others, said on December 22, 2020 that he feels sorry for two men convicted of manslaughter and people smuggling. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) / TO GO WITH Vietnam-Britain-migration, FOCUS by Tran Thi Minh Ha

Four men on trial over death of 39 Vietnamese migrants in British truck

The 39 victims “suffocated” in the back of the truck, a prosecutor said. File photo: AP

FILE PHOTO: Nguyen Dinh Gia, father of Vietnamese Joseph Nguyen Dinh Luong who is one of the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain, is embraced by a friend at his home in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam October 27, 2019. REUTERS/Kham/File Photo

A relative lights an incense stick infront of a portrait of Bui Thi Nhung, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, inside her house in Vietnam's Nghe An province on October 26, 2019. - A photo of her missing daughter Bui Thi Nhung, an offering of fruit and a bouquet of flowers -- a makeshift shrine laid by a desperate mother in a remote Vietnamese town many fear was home to some of the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain. More than 20 Vietnamese are feared to be among the bodies found in a refrigerated trailer in an industrial park in Essex east of London on October 23. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Second truck driver pleads guilty over deaths of 39 Vietnamese immigrants in Britain

Haulier Ronan Hughes. Photo: Handout via AFP

British police forensics officers inspect the truck that contained 39 dead bodies at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, east of London. Photo: AFP

British truck driver pleads guilty in deaths of 39 Vietnamese

A Northern Ireland man pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in southeast England. Photo: AFP

Vietnamese truck victims died from lack of oxygen and overheating, British police say

A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial during a fundraising event near Wolverhampton, Britain, in November for the families of the 39 victims found in a truck in Essex. Photo: Reuters

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Southeast Asia


Two men were found guilty of manslaughter in a British court for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who died in the back of a truck
The father of one of the victims said he feels sorry for the men, while another said they should have given the migrants some air



The father of one of the 39 Vietnamese victims said he feels sorry for the men convicted of manslaughter, while another said they should have given the migrants some air.


UK truck deaths: Vietnamese victims’ families have mixed feelings after two convicted

Two men were found guilty of manslaughter in a British court for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who died in the back of a truck The father of one of the victims said he feels sorry for the men, while another said they should have given the migrants some air

Two men were found guilty of manslaughter in a British court for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who died in the back of a truck

The father of one of the victims said he feels sorry for the men, while another said they should have given the migrants some air