The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid people traffickers for their clandestine transit into England. Police have not provided details about the scheme.

Post-mortem examinations were beginning to determine how exactly they died while forensic experts sought to identify the deceased, which police warned would be a lengthy process.

U.K. police found the bodies of 38 adults and one teenager early on Wednesday in a truck container on an industrial estate in England.