EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA-SCENE UPDATE Up to 50 refugees found dead in lorry in Austria, European leaders "shaken"

Record ID: 142265

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA-SCENE UPDATE Up to 50 refugees found dead in lorry in Austria, European leaders "shaken"
  • Date: 27th August 2015
  • Summary: NEAR PARNDORF, AUSTRIA (AUGUST 27, 2015) (REUTERS) TRACKING SHOT ON MOTORWAY / POLICE AND INVESTIGATORS ON SITE / FORENSIC TEAM BY WHITE LORRY WHERE BODIES WERE FOUND ANOTHER TRACKING SHOT OF SCENE FROM OTHER SIDE OF MOTORWAY WIDE SHOT OF POLICE AND INVESTIGATORS ON SITE / FORENSIC TEAM BY WHITE LORRY WHERE BODIES WERE FOUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) HELMUT MARBAN, PRESS OFFICER, BURGENLAND PROVINCE POLICE SAYING: "On 11 am this morning, policemen from the highway patrol found this car here on the highway. They thought it was damaged the first time, and then they checked the car. They found blood dropping out of the car, it smelt of dead people, then we started police work. We can't at the moment not say exactly how many people are in this car. They are at the moment in the car. We are trying to bring the car down to the highway and to check the car, examine them and to bring the corpses out of the car." JOURNALISTS CLOTHES STREWN ON THE GROUND MORE CLOTHING ON THE GROUND VARIOUS OF CLOTHING AND BELONGINGS ON THE GROUND / PAIR OF SHOES AND A BACKPACK MAP MORE OF CLOTHING ON SIDE OF THE MOTORWAY
  • Embargoed: 11th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAF4SRAIWFADXUYK2YO9Z4RGPFH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As many as 50 refugees were found dead in a parked lorry in Austria near the Hungarian border on Thursday (August 27), and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the discovery had shaken European leaders discussing the migrant crisis at a Balkans summit.
    Police made the grisly discovery in the 7.5-tonne lorry stopped on the A4 motorway near the town of Parndorf, apparently since Wednesday (August 26).
    "On 11 am this morning, policemen from the highway patrol found this car here on the highway. They thought it was damaged the first time, and then they checked the car. They found blood dropping out of the car, it smelt of dead people, then we started police work. We can't at the moment not say exactly how many people are in this car. They are at the moment in the car. We are trying to bring the car down to the highway and to check the car, examine them and to bring the corpses out of the car," said Helmut Marban, press officer for the Burgenland province police.
    Off road, approximately 200 metres from the site, were pieces of clothing strewn all over the place. A backpack, a pair of shoes and a map were also found on the site.
    Reuters could not verify if those belonged to the dead refugees.
    Merkel told a news conference at the summit on the West Balkans in Vienna that "we are of course all shaken by the appalling news. This reminds us that we must tackle quickly the issue of immigration and in a European spirit - that means in a spirit of solidarity - and to find solutions."
    Tens of thousands of people, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, have taken to the sea this year in the hope of reaching Europe, often dangerously packed into small vessels that were never designed to cross the Mediterranean.
    Those who make it ashore and others travelling by land have increasingly tried to make their way north via the Balkans, causing tension among countries along the route.
    Hungary plans to reinforce its southern border with helicopters and mounted police, and is considering using the army as record numbers of migrants passed through coils of razor-wire into Europe.
    Investigations were underway in Austria and Hungary after the bodies were discovered. The truck had Hungarian number plates, a Hungarian official said.
    Janos Lazar, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, said a Romanian citizen had registered the number plate in the eastern Hungarian town of Kecskemet.
    Police limited the motorway to one lane while forensic experts checked over the lorry parked on the hard shoulder.
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