Five people were arrested Sunday night on suspicion of manslaughter over the deaths of at least 19 cockle pickers, including several Chinese, in a northwest England bay, police said Monday.  

The suspects, three men and two women, were being questioned about any involvement they may have had in organizing the trip that led to the tragedy, said a spokesman for Lancashire Police.

The nationalities of the arrested were not released.

Lancashire Detective Chief Inspector Mick Gradwell said the arrests were part of an ongoing inquiry with more searches of addresses expected in coming days.

Police in Merseyside, also in northwest England, were in the process of executing more than 10 search warrants in the area, according to a Sky News report.

The police said many of the dead may have been in the country only a couple of months.

Only 16 people, two Europeans and 14 Chinese, survived when the group was caught in fast-rising tides in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, on Thursday night. The police believe they were being exploited by illegal "gangmasters" to pick cockles.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2004)