Chinese families of cockle-pickers want to go to UK

Family members of Chinese cockle-pickers believed drowned or missing in last week's accident in northern England have asked Chinese and British authorities to permit them to fly to Britain to help identify and bring home their loved ones' bodies.

Sixteen families from eastern China's Fujian province have been without contact with their relatives in Britain since the tragedy on Feb. 5. A total of 19 men and women died when they were overcome by swirling tides during the black of night on a shoal in Morecambe Bay near the city of Liverpool.

Another 16 in the group, 14 of them Chinese, survived the incident, and are being questioned by police.

The government's Xinhua News Agency quoted a representative of Britain's Fujian Association, He Jiajin, saying the support group would help relatives retrieve bodies once they had been identified.

The official also said the association was willing to provide legal aid to victim's family members.

He said the association could help them bring lawsuits against organized crime leaders, suspected by authorities of employing the pickers illegally and paying them a pittance for their cockles, a kind of shellfish hotly sought after on European tables.

Earlier this week, British police said it was too early to know what caused the disaster and who, if anyone, was responsible. Authorities are still trying to identify the victims.

However, officials have confirmed a turf war had developed in the area, and the accident apparently involved illegal Chinese immigrants operating without permits.