The final remains of the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain last month arrived in Vietnam Saturday, the foreign ministry said, returning them to bereft families after weeks of waiting.
The victims were among the 31 men and eight women discovered in a refrigerated lorry in Essex, east of London, on October 23 — all Vietnamese nationals who were illegal migrant workers.
The first 16 bodies were returned on Wednesday, with tearful relatives mobbing ambulances when they arrived in their hometowns.
On Saturday, “the bodies and ashes of 23 remaining victims… arrived in Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi,” announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sixteen bodies and the ashes of seven victims were flown from London, state-run Vietnam News Agency reported, and they were immediately “delivered to their homeland by car”.
The victims hailed mostly from the central provinces, some of the country’s poorest, while some were from the north.
Families were given two options for repatriation: $1,800 to bring back ashes, or $2,900 for the cost of a coffin carrying the body.
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SOURCE: AFP
