A man aged 32 who lost his wife (28) and two sons, aged four and nine, is among the survivors of Saturday's tragedy in Wexford. In the second family, a mother aged 45 lost her husband (40) as well as her 16-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter.
Both families are from eastern Turkey, according to garda∅, and one of the families has been identified as Kurdish.
Six of the eight stowaways who died in the freight container which arrived in Waterford from Belgium on Thursday had been positively identified by relatives who arrived from Britain yesterday morning.
Arrangements were being made last night for the arrival of relatives of the two remaining deceased. One is believed to be Algerian, the second an Albanian. The relatives are travelling from within and outside the EU, said a Garda immigration official yesterday. They are expected to arrive in Wexford this morning and it is hoped they will be able to identify the remaining two dead.
Five relatives - two from one family and three from another - arrived from the Turkish community in Britain yesterday morning. One of the families is from north London. Though none would give interviews to journalists, The Irish Times spoke briefly to the nephew of the woman who lost her husband and two children. Aged about 16, he said none of his family would talk for the time being. According to one garda, this family has been in England for years.
Members of the Kurdish community arrived at Wexford General Hospital last night. It is understood they have connections with one of the families.
The five survivors who remain in Wexford General Hospital are continuing to improve, according to consultant physician Dr Paddy McKiernan. One of the five survivors is Algerian and another Albanian. The other three are a Turkish man, a Turkish woman and a Turkish teenage boy.
Dr McKiernan said they arrived on Saturday in a very bad state. "They came in a comatose state, hypothermic and with pulmonary problems. They are still very sick and are taking oxygen and intravenous drugs." He said they would require psychological support and physiotherapy and he added that it was not yet clear what the long-term physical effects of their ordeal would be.
The post-mortem results on the eight dead are expected this afternoon. Names of the dead will not be released until all the deceased have been satisfactorily identified.
Asked whether garda∅ contacted relatives or relatives contacted them, a senior immigration garda said: "A bit of both." He said garda∅ were involved in all the relatives' travel arrangements.
Several embassies from other European countries have been in contact with immigration garda∅ to see if any of their nationals had been in the freight container, he added.
It has been confirmed that the stowaways paid money to traffickers to arrange the journey. Also, the traffickers arranged to have all the passports and identity documents destroyed.
It is believed they entered the container somewhere in Belgium while it was being transported by road between Cologne in Germany and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. This unknown location in Belgium would have been a gathering point for both the Albanians (who travelled through Italy, Germany, and Belgium) and the Algerians (who came via France and Belgium). It is not clear what route the Turks took.