The Gardaí are today continuing their investigation into the deaths of eight refugees whose bodies were found in a container of office furniture in Co Wexford yesterday.
The identity and nationality of the dead, who include three children, a woman and four men, are as yet unknown. However, one of the five survivors from the container has said through an interpreter that he is Turkish.
The Turkish Embassy is understood to be cooperating with Gardaí in an effort to identify the victims.
The four male survivors are critical but stable, while the lone female survivor was in a critical condition, a spokeswoman at Wexford General Hospital said. All are said to be conscious.
It is thought that the dead may include four members of one family.
The bodies were discovered yesterday morning near Wexford town when the driver of the lorry carrying the container heard noises from inside it. He had earlier collected the container from Waterford port.
Discovering a seal to be broken on the shipment, and efforts made to disguise this, he called the Gardaí. Inside the container the driver - said by the Gardaí to be "totally innocent in all this" - shocked to discover the eight bodies and five survivors who were in a semi-comatose condition.
Doctors treating the survivors were last night visited by the Minister for Justice Mr John O'Donoughue.
Earlier he had gone to the industrial park outside the town where the container was.
Also at the scene last night was Chief State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison. He and his team spent several of hours examining the container and bodies.
Mr O'Donoughue later spoke of his "shock and sadness" over what had happened and said: "My worst fears have been that something like this could happen - and now they have been realised."
The container left Italy with its consignment of Milan-manufactured office furniture on November 30.
Supt John Farrelly said: "There are different localities and countries where these people could have got on to the container. It's also very difficult to say at this time how long they might have been in there.
"We are determined, and I know this is being experienced right throughout Europe, that this type of behaviour should stop," he said.
Mr O'Donoughue was given a full report on the progress of the inquiry into how the container and its cargo had reached Ireland, by senior Gardaí in Wexford.
Detectives were working on the theory that a gang of people-smugglers had been responsible for the tragedy - and had probably received cash payments from their victims.
Earlier, the Taoiseach Mr Ahern pledged every possible effort would be made to track down those responsible.
He said: "The criminals involved in this cruel trade of trafficking in human beings have perpetrated yet another atrocity on the victims of their greed."
Mr O'Donoughue highlighted the near-impossibility of legislating "for people who seem to exploit vulnerable human beings and traffic in them".
"But there are people who will commit this kind of crime and sometimes other people will die. There is concern right across Europe about this."
The minister said Ireland had tough legislation to deal with this kind of crime but added: "You can do your best with legislation and resources but at the end of the day there are people who exploit the other vulnerable human beings."
The Gardaí said they still had to establish exactly how long the refugees had been in the container where they died. Translators were called in an effort to get the full story from the survivors but their medical condition prevented them from relaying much information during the opening hours of the investigation.
It still had to be established whether the immigrants had any food or drink with them during their ordeal.
Dr Brendan Cumiskey, the Bishop of Ferns, the diocese where the container was discovered, directed that prayers should be said at Masses throughout the area for the refugees who had died.
He also questioned whether it was time for both Ireland and Europe to look again at the way refugees were treated.
Responding, Mr O'Donoughue said Irish laws on the issue were in line with other European Union states.
In April a Dutch lorry driver was found guilty of killing 58 Chinese immigrants who were found dead in the back of a lorry at Dover in England.
The Irish, Romanian, Italian and British Refugee Councils issued a joint statement describing the deaths as "another terrible and preventable tragedy".
- Additional reporting PA
