A VIGIL has been held in Belfast to mark the deaths of the 39 Chinese nationals who were found dead in a lorry container in Essex on Wednesday morning.
A crowd gathered outside City Hall on Thursday evening and lit candles as a mark of respect for those who died.
Immigration lawyer Sinead Marmion, who helped organise the event, said: "We decided to organise this late last night because we are so outraged at what has gone on and so horrified at the events and the scale of the lives lost in such a horrific way," she said.
"This really compelled us to come out and try to make other people aware of the scale of human trafficking and the nature of it all around us in our society.
"We talk to people on a daily basis who have made horrendous journeys.
"We are silent a lot of the time too, for the protection of our own clients, but this really compelled us to come out and try to make other people aware of the scale of human trafficking and the nature of it all around us in our society."
Rebecca Ng, from the Chinese Welfare Association, said entire Northern Irish capital was in shock over what happened.
"Such tragedies are really sad," she said.
"These could be a father, a brother, a son of a member of the Chinese community here, they are maybe someone we know or a friend of us.
"This has happened with the Chinese nation but it can happen with other people from different countries as well.
"They have their reasons. They take all this risk and risk their lives to come over here.
"So no matter what the reason, it must be a good reason, and they just look for a better life."
The driver of the lorry, 25-year-old Mo Robinson from Co. Armagh is still being questioned by Essex police, though it's understood that authorities believe it unlikely that he had any involvement or knowledge of the tragedy.
The refrigerated container itself is registered to a Northern Irish company, it was revealed.
