Flowers are seen at the scene where bodies were discovered in a lorry container, in Grays, Essex, Britain October 24, 2019. Photo: Reuters

British police found the bodies of the 39 people, including eight women and 31 men, in a refrigerated container of the semi-trailer truck at an industrial park in Essex, about 32 kilometers from central London.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Britain has worked with local police to verify the nationality of the victims. The ministry’s Consular Department has also been assigned as a contact for providing information from Vietnamese authorities and local administrations to the British side to facilitate the verification process.

The ministry said the Vietnamese embassy is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to take citizen protection measures in the case that one or more Vietnamese nationals are confirmed to be among the 39 victims.

Those seeking assistance in relation to the case can contact the citizen protection hotline of the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK at +44 7713 181501 or Vietnam’s general citizen protection hotline at +84981 8484 84.