Police have appealed directly to the Vietnamese community in Britain in an attempt to help identify 39 victims found dead in a lorry in Essex.

In a Facebook video, Essex Police urged anyone with information that could help establish who the victims are to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore said: “I want to appeal to you to trust me and take a leap of faith.”

“Meet with my officers who, I promise you, will help you and do everything we can to reunite you with your lost family member.

“That is all we want to do. We want to treat you with dignity and respect and we will do everything we can to help you.

“I promise you, you will be not arrested and we will not be sharing your information with anyone else.

“So please come forward and let us help you.”

Essex Police Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore speaks to the media during a press conference, 26-10-2019. Image: Victoria Jones/PA Wire/PA Images

The victims are believed to be in their teens and twenties.

Members of the Vietnamese community in London met police last night. Father Simon Thang Duc Nguyen, priest of the Vietnamese Catholic Cathedral in the east of the city was there.

He said he has been contacted by one family in Vietnam may have lost six members in the tragedy.

25-year-old Maurice Robinson | Image: Facebook/Mo Robinson

25-year-old lorry driver Maurice Robinson, from Craigavon in County Armagh, appeared in court yesterday over the discovery.

He has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, and money laundering.

Three other people arrested in connection with the investigation last week have since been released on bail.

On Saturday, a man was arrested in Dublin as part of an international investigation into the deaths of 39 people in the UK.

The man, aged in his early 20s and from Northern Ireland, was arrested at Dublin Port on foot of an outstanding court order for an offence.

Gardaí said police in Essex have an interest in this man as part of their investigation.