Eight refugees died en route from Belgium
A Wexford coroner has told an inquest into the deaths of four refugees who died in the back of a container en route to Ireland from Belgium that the perpetrators and their accomplices should face murder charges.
The State Pathologist said that those who died in the container did not necessarily die on the same day. Dr John Harbison gave evidence that all four had died from lack of oxygen consistent with depletion of oxygen in a sealed container. The four people included a mother and two young children and a Turkish man in his 20s.
The inquests were adjourned because criminal proceedings are pending. The inquest on the other four who died will take place at a later date.
In a separate development, police in Belgium have charged a truck driver in connection with the deaths of eight refugees whose bodies were found in a container in Wexford on Saturday. He is aged 50 and comes from the Brussels area.
The man, who will appear in court in Bruges, near the port of Zeebrugge, on Friday, has been questioned by police for the past two days.
It is believed he was the driver who collected the container from Cologne on 3 December, before driving it to Zeebrugee the next day. Belgian detectives are on their way to Ireland to assist Gardaí with their investigations.
