Authorities in Vietnam's coastal Ha Tinh province have filed charges against seven human traffickers accused of involvement in a smuggling ring that sent 39 migrant workers to their deaths in a refrigerated truck found abandoned in Britain in October.

All seven were charged on Feb. 20 with "organizing other people to go abroad illegally" under Article 349 of Vietnam's penal code, with six now under arrest in Vietnam and one being sought in China by police, according to reports in Vietnamese state media.