(CNN) Police in Vietnam have arrested eight people in connection with the deaths of 39 people found dead in a truck in England last month, Vietnamese state media reported Monday.

Speaking to reporters, Major General Nguyen Huu Cau also said police in Nge An province, in the north of the country, had coordinated with relevant agencies to collect and test the fingerprints of 21 people "suspected of having relations to the case," the government's online newspaper reported Monday.

In a statement on Friday, Essex Police said those in the back of a refrigerated lorry in a UK industrial park in Grays, Essex, 20 miles east of London, were believed to be Vietnamese nationals. Initially Essex Police said they believed all of the victims were Chinese.

Vietnamese police had arrested two suspects in connection to the deaths on Friday. The deputy director of the Nge An district police department said police suspected the arrested pair may also have been involved in previous missing persons cases.

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