- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA REACTIONS Shock in Vienna over migrant lorry deaths
- Date: 28th August 2015
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (AUGUST 28, 2015) (REUTERS) TRAM DRIVING PAST VIENNA OPERA HOUSE PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET SPIRE OF ST. STEPHENS CATHEDRAL STREET OUTSIDE OPERA HOUSE PEOPLE WALKING IN THE STREET VARIOUS OF FOUNTAIN (SOUNDBITE) (German) KLAUS-PETER SADTLER, VIENNA RESIDENT, SAYING: "It is the logical continuation of what has been happening the whole time. If we can't achieve some way of housing the people, then it will lead to such criminal activities and then there are victims." (SOUNDBITE) (German) PETER NEUSSER, VIENNA RESIDENT, SAYING: "It is awful that the lorry was able to get to Austria. It's awful that it was able to happen altogether. And the Interior Minister is probably right in saying that the migrants should probably be registered properly in the country where they first arrive so that they can legally get to Austria. That would also be my proposal." (SOUNDBITE) (German) WALTRAUD WINKLER, VIENNA RESIDENT, SAYING: "It is crazy, something like that. I am completely stunned when I read it today in the newspaper. It has really shocked me. And the fact that they didn't even realise it, a lorry. It must have been so agonising for the people inside. I think the lorry was dented. It must have been a struggle to survive." PEOPLE IN THE STREET (SOUNDBITE) (German) WALTRAUD WINKLER, VIENNA RESIDENT, SAYING: "I don't know if they will manage to bring it under control. Of course for us in Austria, we are not able to take in everyone. That is clear but we should definitely help. I can't say exactly what should be done but it really is a thing for the politicians." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN THE STREET NEWSPAPERS WITH HEADLINES ABOUT DEAD MIGRANTS NEWSPAPER "KRONEN ZEITUNG" READING (German) "TRAFFICKING LORRY AS MASS GRAVE" NEWSPAPER "KLEINE ZEITUNG" READING (German) "THE DEATH LORRY" NEWSPAPER "DER STANDARD" READING (German) "WORLDWIDE SHOCK ABOUT DEAD MIGRANTS'' NEWSPAPER READING (German) "PENNED IN LIKE RUBBISH - 50 DEAD MIGRANTS ON THE A4"
- Embargoed: 12th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Austria
- Country: Austria
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAEC39YNQW3G296EYPZRHS3OPMP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: People in Vienna on Friday (August 28) said they were shocked over the grisly discovery of a lorry packed with 71 dead migrants parked on an Austrian highway.
An Austrian motorway patrol discovered the abandoned truck near the Hungarian border on Thursday (August 27), probably at least 24 hours after it had been parked there.
The migrants appeared to have been dead for up to two days and fluids from the decomposing bodies were seeping from its door.
''If we can't achieve some way of housing the people, then it will lead to such criminal activities and then there are victims," said Vienna resident Klaus-Peter Sadtler.
Peter Neusser told Reuters that it was an awful situation.
"It is awful that the lorry was able to get to Austria. It's awful that it was able to happen altogether. And the Interior Minister is probably right in saying that the migrants should probably be registered properly in the country where they first arrive so that they can legally get to Austria. That would also be my proposal," he said.
Of the 71 dead, 59 were men, eight were women, and four were children, including a girl estimated at 1-2 years old and three boys aged roughly 8-10.
About 100,000 migrants, many of them from Syria and other conflict zones in the Middle East, have taken the Balkan route into Europe this year, heading via Serbia for Hungary and Europe's Schengen zone of passport-free travel. Most then move on to richer countries such as Austria and Germany.
Austria saw asylum requests rise to more than 28,000 in the first six months of 2015 - more than the total for all of 2014.
Many people in Austria's capital were appalled and angered by the deaths.
"It is crazy, something like that. I am completely stunned when I read it today in the newspaper. It has really shocked me. And the fact that they didn't even realise it, a lorry. It must have been so agonising for the people inside. I think the lorry was dented. It must have been a struggle to survive," said Waltraud Winkler near Vienna's famous opera house.
Winkler said that she doesn't know if Austria and the European Union will be able to get the migration crisis under control.
''Of course for us in Austria, we are not able to take in everyone. That is clear but we should definitely help. I can't say exactly what should be done but it really is a thing for the politicians," she added.
Austria's Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said on Friday the best way to handle the refugee crisis was to create legal pathways into Europe rather than stricter border controls.
The 28 member states of the European Union have not yet agreed on introducing binding quotas for the distribution of refugees. EU leaders declared this week the bloc had "failed" in the face of human agony on its frontiers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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