The 39 bodies found frozen to death in a refrigerated lorry container in Essex were Chinese, the police has confirmed.
Eight of the victims are women and 31 are men. All are adults.
One female victim was previously thought to have been a teenager. Officers said she is a “young adult woman.”
Staff from the Chinese embassy in London are expected to visit the scene where the bodies were found, the AFP news agency reported.
Three properties in Northern Ireland are being searched as part of the investigation and a 25-year-old man from Co Armagh remains in police custody.
It comes as gardaí said they have no evidence that an Irish people trafficking gang was involved in the trafficking of the people who were found dead yesterday morning in the container.
Gardaí are conducting follow up inquiries in relation to the registrations and movements of the refrigerated container and the Irish-owned truck.
They do not however believe at this stage, and say they have as yet no information to suggest, that an Irish-based criminal gang was involved.
Police in the UK said the trailer containing the victims arrived by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium early yesterday morning and the front section, known as the tractor, came from Northern Ireland.
