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Migrant crisis: Austria lorry held more than 70 bodies | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Austrian officials now say the bodies of more than 70 people, thought to be migrants, were in an abandoned lorry found on a motorway on Thursday. | |
They originally estimated that between 20 to 50 people died in the vehicle, found near the Hungarian border. | They originally estimated that between 20 to 50 people died in the vehicle, found near the Hungarian border. |
Police sent to investigate the dumped lorry on the A4 road towards Vienna discovered the decomposing bodies. | |
The local police chief said it appeared those in the vehicle had been dead for one-and-a-half to two days. | |
The victims were probably already dead when the vehicle crossed into Austria from Hungary, authorities said. It is unclear how they died. | |
The vehicle was towed to a customs building with refrigeration facilities in Nickelsdorf where forensic teams worked through the night to examine the bodies. | |
Austrian police are expected to reveal the exact toll at a news conference at 11:00 (09:00 GMT) on Friday. | Austrian police are expected to reveal the exact toll at a news conference at 11:00 (09:00 GMT) on Friday. |
The police forces in Austria and Hungary are working together to try and find the driver. | |
A report in Austrian newspaper Krone (in German) said on Friday that seven people had been arrested in Hungary, but this has not been confirmed. | |
The vehicle bears the logo of a Slovakian poultry company, Hyza, which said it no longer owned the vehicle - but the buyers had not removed the branding. | The vehicle bears the logo of a Slovakian poultry company, Hyza, which said it no longer owned the vehicle - but the buyers had not removed the branding. |
The Hungarian prime minister's chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said on Friday that the lorry was registered to a Romanian citizen in Kecskemet, a city in central Hungary. | |
Hans Peter Doskozil, police chief in the Burgenland province where the lorry was found, said it was a refrigerated vehicle - not the typical choice for people smugglers, he added. | Hans Peter Doskozil, police chief in the Burgenland province where the lorry was found, said it was a refrigerated vehicle - not the typical choice for people smugglers, he added. |
The lorry, which has Hungarian number plates, is understood to have left Budapest on Wednesday morning. | The lorry, which has Hungarian number plates, is understood to have left Budapest on Wednesday morning. |
Video: EU immigration rules in 90 seconds | |
Why is EU struggling with migrant crisis? | Why is EU struggling with migrant crisis? |
Truck sightings | Truck sightings |
Early Wednesday: Police believe the truck set off from south-east of Budapest | Early Wednesday: Police believe the truck set off from south-east of Budapest |
09:00 Wednesday: Truck recorded on cameras at Hegyeshalom on the Hungarian side of the border with Austria | 09:00 Wednesday: Truck recorded on cameras at Hegyeshalom on the Hungarian side of the border with Austria |
05:00 or 06:00 Thursday: Truck seen parked in lay-by on A4 motorway between Neusiedl and Parndorf | |
11:30 Thursday: Austrian police open the truck and find bodies | 11:30 Thursday: Austrian police open the truck and find bodies |
Tens of thousands of migrants from conflict-hit states in the Middle East and Africa have been trying to make their way to Europe in recent months. | |
A record number of 107,500 migrants crossed the EU's borders last month. | |
Some of them pay large sums of money to people smugglers to get them through borders illegally. | |
Meanwhile, migrants continue to die as they try to reach Europe via the central Mediterranean route. | |
Hundreds of people are feared to have died after two vessels carrying migrants sank off the coast of Libya on Thursday. | |
Migrants' perilous Western Balkan route to Germany | |
Are more people on the move than ever before? | |
Have you been affected by this story? If you wish to contact BBC News, you can do so by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk | Have you been affected by this story? If you wish to contact BBC News, you can do so by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk |
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: | Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: |
Or use the form below | Or use the form below |