- Title: China calls Essex incident "tragic," hopes to confirm identities of 39 dead
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (OCTOBER 25, 2019) (REUTERS) FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN HUA CHUNYING WALKING IN FOR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN HUA CHUNYING, SAYING: "I'm just like you, I think a lot of people are paying attention to this report. In fact, when we saw this report, it was psychologically very heavy for us. This is a tragedy that makes people very sad." JOURNALISTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN HUA CHUNYING, SAYING: "At the moment, the Chinese embassy in the UK's officer in charge of consular services has already arrived at the scene of the incident, and got in contact with the local police. The UK police have said that they are still determining the identities of the victims. At the moment, they are unable to confirm whether they are Chinese nationals." JOURNALISTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN HUA CHUNYING, SAYING: "The Chinese government attaches high importance to these reports about this case. The relevant departments of the Chinese government are closely coordinating and working on this case. We hope the UK will quickly verify and confirm the identities of the victims, ascertain the facts, and punish those responsible in accordance with the law." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS EXTERIOR OF FOREIGN MINISTRY CHINESE FLAG FLYING
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 08:17
- Keywords: China bodies UK police smuggle foreign ministry news conference
- Location: No-Data-Available
- City: No-Data-Available
- Country: China
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2LGP53
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT REPLACES THE LOWER QUALITY EDIT IN 5066-BRITAIN-BODIES/CHINA-MINISTRY
China's government hopes Britain can confirm the identities of the 39 bodies found dead in a refrigerated truck near London as soon as possible, the foreign ministry said on Friday (October 25).
At present, British police are unable to confirm the nationality of the deceased, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comments at a daily news briefing in Beijing.
Paramedics and police found the bodies of 31 men and eight women on Wednesday (October 23) on an industrial estate at Grays in Essex, about 20 miles (30 km) east of the British capital.
Chinese state-backed newspaper Global Times said in a commentary on Friday that Britain and other European countries must accept some responsibility for the deaths of those discovered in the truck.
(Production: Wang Shubing, Joseph Campbell) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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