EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA STATION UPDATE More migrants arrive from Hungary, wait for train to Vienna
Record ID:
139980
EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA STATION UPDATE More migrants arrive from Hungary, wait for train to Vienna
- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA STATION UPDATE More migrants arrive from Hungary, wait for train to Vienna
- Date: 11th September 2015
- Summary: NICKELSDORF, AUSTRIA (SEPTEMBER 11, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES STANDING, SITTING ON PLATFORM CHILD SLEEPING ON MOTHER'S LAP SIGN READING "NICKELSDORF" VARIOUS OF MAN HOLDING A SMALL BABY MIGRANTS QUEUING TO GET FOOD DISTRIBUTED BY VOLUNTEERS TWO GIRLS RECEIVING FOOD MIGRANTS QUEUING (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM SYRIA, ABDU, SAYING: "In the Austrian border, the Hungarian police walk and you walk after it. Then, the Austrian police are in the camp over there. They put us in the camp, we slept one night, and they give us food, they give us water, clothes, they are very good. Then, there is a lot, a lot of people, it's very crowded. No-one can get in the bus over there in the camp, so people come to here, to this train station, hoping they get in the train or bus, or anything, and we are still waiting. I hope the rest of the journey is not so hard, like the previous." TWO MEN SLEEPING ON GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM SYRIA, ABDU, SAYING: "No, only me. My family, I left it in Syria. There is no enough...I'm on my own because there is no enough money for all the family. It's very high, expensive. Three thousand dollars, maybe more, you know. So, there is no enough money, and it's a very hard journey. I mean, even if there were money I wouldn't take my mother or my little brother or my little sister or my father to here. It's very hard. I'm a young man and I'm so tired." VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING ON ROAD ROAD SIGNS POINTING TO VIENNA AND NICKELSDORF POLICE KEEPING MIGRANTS WALKING IN RIGHT LANE GROUP OF MIGRANTS BOARDING BUS ON MOTORWAY MIGRANTS WALKING ON MOTORWAY
- Embargoed: 26th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Austria
- Country: Austria
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAP14XEBDDBG7ME7J5WGN2NL4P
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Austria partially shut a motorway linking Vienna and Hungary on Friday (September 11) as dozens of migrants and refugees who had crossed the border set off for the Austrian capital on foot rather than wait for struggling authorities to arrange transport.
Austria closed the A4 motorway near the Hungarian border for security reasons on Friday morning. A spokeswoman for the road operator ASFINAG later said the eastbound lane towards Hungary had reopened.
Around 8,000 people crossed the border into Austria on Thursday and a further 3,600 had crossed since midnight, a police spokesman said, adding that he expected the number of crossings to match Thursday's throughout the day.
Hundreds of migrants, many with small children, congregated at the Nickelsdorf train station hoping for transportation to Vienna.
A 20-year-old Syrian refugee Abdu said it had been a difficult journey so far.
"In the Austrian border, the Hungarian police walk and you walk after it. Then, the Austrian police are in the camp over there. They put us in the camp, we slept one night, and they give us food, they give us water, clothes, they are very good. Then, there is a lot, a lot of people, it's very crowded. No-one can get in the bus over there in the camp, so people come to here, to this train station, hoping they get in the train or bus, or anything, and we are still waiting. I hope the rest of the journey is not so hard, like the previous," he said.
The police handling the new arrivals at the Hungarian border are struggling to provide food and shelter for the migrants while arranging transport - largely on buses, since the rail link to Vienna is suspended.
Abdu said he hadn't been able to bring his other family members with him.
"Only me. My family, I left it in Syria. There is no enough...I'm on my own because there is no enough money for all the family. It's very high, expensive. Three thousand dollars, maybe more, you know. So, there is no enough money, and it's a very hard journey. I mean, even if there were money I wouldn't take my mother or my little brother or my little sister or my father to here. It's very hard. I'm a young man and I'm so tired," said the student, who is hoping to be able to finish his studies in aeronautical engineering in Germany.
Hungary has transported tens of thousands of people to near the Austrian border in the past week. They have then crossed the border on foot. Others have entered Austria by train, but that option has been unavailable since Thursday's rail suspension.
The train line will remain closed over the weekend, the rail company said.
The Austrian government was due to hold a special meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss the migrant crisis.
The Wiener Zeitung, a daily newspaper, said the crisis would cost Austria an extra one billion euros ($1.13 billion), citing an estimate by the Foreign Ministry, which deals with integration matters. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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