The UK’s lorry driver inside which 39 people were found dead claimed that he was transporting biscuit and has no idea of the content of the lorry.

Contrary to the publicised cause of death, the victims did not die by being frozen to death but instead, they were suffocated.

According to the Irish Times report, the truck driver at Zeebrugge told port officials he was transporting biscuits and therefore the truck’s refrigeration unit did not need to be switched on.

The man, who is currently in custody in Ireland following his arrest on Saturday, is being sought by British police on suspicion of transporting the trailer containing the victims to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

The trailer was then transported to the UK by ferry before being driven to Essex.

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It was opened up and the bodies of 31 men and eight women, most believed to have come from Vietnam, were found inside.

The driver has however been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people, Essex police have said.

Four other people arrested over the deaths, including a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland who was detained at Stansted airport on Friday on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and manslaughter, remain in custody.

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Officers had earlier arrested a couple, named locally as haulage boss Thomas Maher and his wife Joanna, both 38, of Warrington, on suspicion of 39 counts of manslaughter and people trafficking, Guardian UK reported.

A fifth man, who is understood to be sought by Essex police in connection with the investigation into the deaths of 39 people found in a lorry in Grays on Wednesday, has also been arrested in Dublin.

Vanguard News Nigeria.