Update on the case of 39 deaths in UK lorry

Regarding this, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said, "This is a serious humanitarian tragedy. We are deeply heartbroken and would like to extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and hope they will soon overcome this great pain and loss.

From the beginning of the incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK to coordinate directly with authorities, localities in Vietnam and the UK, providing relevant information from Vietnam to assist in confirming the victim's nationality, opening a hotline, receiving information and being ready to take protective measures in case there are Vietnamese citizens among the victims. Vietnam strongly condemns human trafficking, considers it a serious crime and must be punished properly. Vietnam calls on other countries in the region and the world to step up cooperation in the prevention and combat of human trafficking crimes, so as not to repeat the same tragedies.

We thank and appreciate the British Government, relevant UK agencies and local governments for actively conducting the screening, providing identification information and working closely with Vietnamese authorities. We hope that the British side will complete the investigation soon and severely punish those responsible for this tragedy.