British police said Thursday that 39 people found dead in a truck near London are believed to be Chinese nationals, in a case that has triggered national outrage over the people trafficking business. Emergency workers discovered the bodies early Wednesday inside the refrigerated container of a truck parked in an industrial area east of London, shortly after it had arrived on a ferry from Belgium.

Police are conducting the country's largest murder probe in more than a decade into what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as an "unimaginable tragedy". The local police force, who have arrested the truck's driver on suspicion of murder, said eight of the dead were women and 31 were men.

"All are believed to be Chinese nationals," Essex Police said in a statement. China's foreign ministry said its embassy staff in London were heading to the scene "to verify this situation". An embassy spokesperson said Chinese authorities had read the reports with a "heavy heart" and were in close contact with police "to seek clarification and confirmation".

The deaths echoed the discovery of 58 Chinese immigrants hidden in a Dutch truck in the English port of Dover in 2000. Only two survived. "It (has) happened elsewhere but it makes you more shocked that it could happen in your area," May Lovett, a 33-year-old owner of a cafe by the local docks, told AFP. "I don't know how people can be so evil," added Rashda Imran, a mother living in the area 18 years.

Northern Ireland connection

With the help of immigration officials and the National Crime Agency (NCA), Essex Police are leading the biggest murder probe in Britain since the 2005 London terror attacks that killed 52 people. Its officers searched three properties in Northern Ireland overnight in connection with the investigation. The addresses are believed to be linked to the arrested truck driver, a 25-year-old man from the province, who police have remanded in custody until Friday.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019