Dead lorry man may be Vietnamese

The man was found in the back of an Italian-registered lorry

Detectives trying to identify a man found dead in the back of a lorry on a Hampshire motorway said they believe he may have been Vietnamese.

The man was discovered in an Italian-registered articulated lorry when police stopped the vehicle on the M3 at Winchester on Tuesday.

Police said his death was not suspicious and he may have died from hypothermia or natural causes.

They are appealing to the Vietnamese community to help identify him.

Det Supt Dave Williams, from Hampshire Constabulary, said officers believed the man got into the back of the vehicle while it was in a lorry park in France on Monday, and arrived in the UK the next day at Dover docks.

'Arm waving'

He added: "While travelling west on the M25, the driver, a 45-year-old Italian man, was alerted to his trailer by another motorist who indicated that an arm was waving from the side of the vehicle.

"The lorry driver pulled over and stopped between junctions nine and ten, for Leatherhead [Surrey] and the A3.

"At that point, we understand a man jumped off the vehicle and ran off west along the hard shoulder. The driver was unable to get a description.

"It's possible that whoever else was in the back of the lorry is also from Vietnam and that perhaps they are heading towards an established Vietnamese community in this country."

The dead man was between 25 and 30 years old, of slim to medium build and was wearing blue jeans with a black belt and several sweaters.

The lorry driver was arrested but later released on police bail pending further enquiries.

A post-mortem examination failed to establish a cause of death and further forensic tests were being carried out to determine the cause of death.