Efforts continue to identify lorry death victims
Efforts to identify eight refugees who died in a freight container after being smuggled into Ireland were being stepped up by today as five survivors of the ideal remained critically ill in hospital.
Gardai are liaising closely with European and international counterparts as part of their ‘‘major investigation’’ of the affair.
The refugees were discovered on Saturday morning when a lorry driver heard noises in the container after he parked it in an industrial park at Wexford.
He opened up the vehicle after spotting that the lock had been tampered with and saw inside what police later called ‘‘a nightmare of human misery’’.
All 13 people in the container were unconscious - and eight were dead.
Those who died included three children - a boy aged just four and a boy and girl, each aged 10 - as well as four men and a woman.
Bertie Ahern said ‘‘every possible effort is being made to bring those responsible to justice’’.
He said: ‘‘The criminals involved in this cruel trade of trafficking in human beings have perpetrated yet another atrocity on the victims of their greed.’’
Justice Minister John O’Donoghue, who visited the scene last night and spoke to doctors treating the survivors, also promised to pursue the gang suspected of orchestrating the smuggling bid that led to the refugees’ horrific ordeal.
He described what had happened as ‘‘my worst fears realised’’, and talked of ‘‘people who seem to exploit vulnerable human beings and traffic in them.’’
He added: ‘‘There are people who will commit this kind of crime and sometimes other people will die. There is concern right across Europe about this.’’
The minister said Ireland had tough laws to deal with this kind of crime but added: ‘‘You can do your best with legislation and resources but at the end of the day there are people who exploit other more vulnerable human beings.’’
As prayers were being said for the dead at masses throughout the local diocese in Wexford today - at the request of Bishop Brendan Comiskey - police were also attempting to pinpoint the nationalities of the would-be immigrants.
Last night it emerged that at least one of those in hospital, a 17-year-old youth, was Turkish, despite initial indications that the whole group was from Romania.
There were some signs, too, that the party could have included four members of the same family, and maybe a mother and her children.
Police also had to establish whether the 13 had any food and drink while they were in the container - and just now long they had been there.
The vehicle, which carried a cargo of office furniture, began its trip in Milan, Italy. It was taken by rail to Cologne, Germany, and then on to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge before being shipped to Waterford, where it was picked up yesterday and transferred the final 30 miles to Wexford.
Former government minister Avril Doyle, who represents the Wexford region in the European Parliament, said today: ‘‘In a sense this was a tragedy waiting to happen, given our proximity to both the ports of Rosslare and Waterford.
‘‘The refugee and illegal entry into Ireland has become a big issue in this country and is a new phenomenon.
‘‘I think the concern here - as in other places - is that our system of assessment of immigrants has not been developed to the point where we know who is genuine and who is not.
‘‘But when you see a tragedy like this, you must question the desperation that drives people to this.
‘‘It think Europe-wide, we are going to have to get our act together on this. While there has been good co-operation at police level, we have not brought our screening at ports to the best standards. We need more sophistication.’’
