Vietnam sends Britain information of missing citizens

HANOI - Vietnam has compiled information provided by 14 local families seeking for missing relatives in Britain and sent to British authorities for verification, Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

The ministry, via its citizen protection hotline, has received information by those families who are seeking assistance after 39 people were found dead in a refrigerated truck in the British county of Essex, Vietnam News Agency quoted Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh as saying on Tuesday.

The exchange of information with the British side is to check whether files of those missing Vietnamese people match the records of victims in the Essex lorry incident, Minh said.

Earlier, British authorities sent Vietnam records of four victims among the 39 dead for connecting the information and verify the victims' identification. The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security met with British Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward on Monday to further exchange information regarding the case.

The Public Security Ministry had also worked in central Nghe An and Ha Tinh province to collect hair and nail samples from families who reported missing members and investigate whether they were illegally taken abroad, local newspaper reported.