EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA-POLICE NEWSER Austrian police: at least 20 refugees found dead in lorry, number could rise to 50

Record ID: 142328

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA-POLICE NEWSER Austrian police: at least 20 refugees found dead in lorry, number could rise to 50
  • Date: 27th August 2015
  • Summary: EISENSTADT, AUSTRIA (AUGUST 27, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF EISENSTADT POLICE STATION SIGN READING (German) "EISENSTADT POLICE STATION" BURGENLAND POLICE CHIEF HANS PETER DOSKOZIL ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (German) BURGENLAND POLICE CHIEF, HANS PETER DOSKOZIL, SAYING: "It was not clear exactly how many people were inside, it was not possible to verify this visually. We believe that more than 20 people were inside. It could be 30, 40 or even 50 people. At the moment we do not know whether women and children are among the dead." PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (German) BURGENLAND POLICE CHIEF, HANS PETER DOSKOZIL, SAYING: "In all probability we will be able to say tomorrow morning how many people were in the lorry. We will be working on this throughout the night in Nickelsdorf." JOURNALIST TYPING (SOUNDBITE) (German) BURGENLAND POLICE CHIEF, HANS PETER DOSKOZIL, SAYING: "Taking into consideration the current weather conditions, we can perhaps assume the time of death was one-and-a-half to two days ago. (JOURNALIST ASKING WHETHER REFUGEES WERE DEAD BEFORE CROSSING BORDER INTO AUSTRIA.) The evidence points to that." CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (German) BURGENLAND POLICE CHIEF, HANS PETER DOSKOZIL, SAYING: "We know that the vehicle set off in the early hours of yesterday south-east of Budapest, that in the early afternoon it stopped just before the Austrian border and we assume that it was brought to Austria overnight. Then it was found today in the lay-by where it had been parked." JOURNALIST WRITING (SOUNDBITE) (German) BURGENLAND POLICE CHIEF, HANS PETER DOSKOZIL, SAYING: "The perpetrators were naturally not present. I believe they have already left Austria, but that is conjecture." POLICE LOGO NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING
  • Embargoed: 11th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACBQJ687F1YZXX23WPEFQN6BP3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: At least 20 refugees were found dead in a truck parked near the Hungarian border in Austria on Thursday (August 27), with the number likely to rise to as many as 50 as identification work continued overnight, police said.
    Hans Peter Doskozil, police chief in the province of Burgenland, said he could not put an exact figure on the number of victims, whose bodies had begun to decompose.
    "We believe that more than 20 people were inside. It could be 30, 40 or even 50 people. At the moment we do not know whether women and children are among the dead," he told reporters in Eisenstadt.
    Police made the grisly discovery in the 7.5-tonne truck stopped on the A4 motorway near the town of Parndorf, apparently since Wednesday (August 26), Doskozil said.
    "Taking into consideration the current weather conditions, we can perhaps assume the time of death was one-and-a-half to two days ago," he said, adding that the victims were likely already dead before the truck crossed the border into Austria.
    Doskozil said the vehicle was near Budapest in the early hours of Wednesday. Investigations were underway in Austria and Hungary after the bodies were discovered. The truck had Hungarian number plates, a Hungarian official said.
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the discovery had shaken European leaders discussing the migrant crisis at a Balkans summit.
    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.
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