The condition improved today of the five refugees who survived a bid to smuggle them to Ireland in an enclosed freight container. Eight of their companions died before they were discovered.
All five - a woman and four men - are still listed as critical at Wexford General Hospital, where they were taken after being discovered lying unconscious in the container yesterday.
They were all suffering from lung and general respiratory problems and hypothermia.
Dr Paddy McKiernan, the Wexford hospital's consultant physician, reported that the condition of the refugees had shown some improvement and stabilised, but that the woman in particular was classified as critically ill. He added: "We are much more hopeful about them now."