Ronan Hughes & Christopher Hughes
Ronan Hughes is 40 years old and his brother is Christopher Hughes 34 years old from Armagh, Northern Ireland. Curently, the two brothers is wanted on suspicion of manslaughter over 39 people found dead in a lorry in Essex.
The 39 bodies were found in the lorry trailer on an industrial estate in Grays on Wednesday. Earlier, Mo Robinson is 25 years old from Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He is a Northern Irish driver is believed to have picked up a refrigerated container in Essex just minutes before the bodies of 39 people were found inside.
He had driven from his home in a small village near Portadown, Northern Ireland, over the weekend and collected the trailer from the port of Purfleet late last night. Later, a few minuted after his lorry was seen driving into the Waterglade Industrial Park in Thurrock, where ambulance crews and police were called and found 39 people dead in the back, including a teenager.
Essex Police said the trailer arrived via ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium, into Purfleet on the River Thames. The ship docked in the Thurrock area shortly after 00:30, the force said and it is believed the container and lorry then left the port together about 35 minutes later.
Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills said identifying the victims remained a “number one priority”, but was expected to be a “lengthy process”. The National Crime Agency said it had sent officers to assist and identify any “organized crime groups who may have played a part”.
Later, the Police have launched one of the UK’s biggest ever murder probes after the bodies of 39 people, including one teenager, were found in the back of a lorry in Essex. The lorry’s driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police have not said where those who died are from or where they were thought to have been traveling.
According to BBC, Police were called by the ambulance service shortly before 01:40 BST after the discovery at Waterglade Industrial Park in Eastern Avenue, Grays. Essex Police said the vehicle traveled from Bulgaria and entered the UK via Holyhead, Anglesey, on Saturday.
Early indications are that 38 adults and one teenager have died, the force said. There were no survivors. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Prime Minister’s Questions it was an “unimaginable tragedy and truly heartbreaking”. He said: “I know that the thoughts and prayers of all members will be with those who lost their lives and their loved ones. I’m receiving regular updates. The Home Office will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened.”
Irish Premier Leo Varadkar told the Dail that the deaths were a “human tragedy”, adding that investigations would be undertaken to establish if the lorry had passed through Ireland.
The fact that the lorry arrived at Holyhead on Saturday suggests those who died may have been in the back of the vehicle for at least four days. A member of the Freight Transport Association (FTA) said the lorry could have got a ferry from France to Ireland, then driven through Ireland before boarding another boat to Britain.
Seamus Leheny said: ‘If the lorry came from Bulgaria, getting into Britain via Holyhead is an unorthodox route. ‘People have been saying that security and checks have been increased at places like Dover and Calais, so it might be seen as an easier way to get in by going from Cherbourg or Roscoff, over to Rosslare, then up the road to Dublin. It’s a long way around and it’ll add an extra day to the journey.’ According to Dailymail.co.uk
Yesterday, Essex Police released photos of the Hughes brothers, who run a haulage business on the Northern Ireland border with the Republic. Ronan Hughes is alleged to have leased the refrigerated container from another Irish company, Dublin-based Global Trailer Rentals (GTR).
Ronan Hughes lives in the county in the Republic of Ireland that borders Armagh. There is no suggestion the brothers were aware of the plot to smuggle migrants using the cab or the container. According to Thesun.co.uk.