- Title: Discovery in Britain of 39 bodies resembles 2015 Austria case
- Date: 23rd October 2019
- Summary: NEAR PARNDORF, AUSTRIA (FILE - AUGUST 27, 2015) (REUTERS) TRACKING SHOT ON MOTORWAY / POLICE AND INVESTIGATORS ON SITE / FORENSIC TEAM BY WHITE LORRY WHERE BODIES WERE FOUND WIDE SHOT OF POLICE AND INVESTIGATORS ON SITE / FORENSIC TEAM BY WHITE LORRY WHERE BODIES WERE FOUND VARIOUS OF CLOTHING AND BELONGINGS ON THE GROUND / PAIR OF SHOES AND A BACKPACK MAP MORE OF CLOTHING ON SIDE OF THE MOTORWAY NICKELSDORF, AUSTRIA (FILE - AUGUST 27, 2015) (REUTERS) POLICE VANS PARKED WITH LORRY IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF LORRY WITH FORENSIC INVESTIGATORS INSIDE FEET OF FORENSIC INVESTIGATORS INSIDE LOADING BAY EISENSTADT, AUSTRIA (FILE - AUGUST 27, 2015) REUTERS) CANDLES AND STUFFED BEAR ON GROUND STUFFED TOY/PEOPLE LAYING FLOWERS AND CANDLES VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LIGHTING CANDLES AND LAYING THEM ON GROUND SIGNS READING (German) "SAFE PASSAGE FOR REFUGEES NOW!" AND "STOP INCITING HATRED" PEOPLE HOLDING BANNER READING (English) "REFUGEES WELCOME"
- Embargoed: 6th November 2019 09:57
- Keywords: dead migrants found in truck lorry Nickelsdorf August 2015 Hungarian border
- Location: PARNDORF & NICKELSDORF & EISENSTADT, AUSTRIA / MATESZALKA, HUNGARY
- City: PARNDORF & NICKELSDORF & EISENSTADT, AUSTRIA / MATESZALKA, HUNGARY
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2BG7D3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The discovery of 39 dead bodies found in a container east of London bears resemblance to August 2015 when 71 migrants were found dead in a refrigerator truck parked on the A4 motorway in Austria near the Hungarian border.
At a trial which followed, prosecutors at the time said a gang made at least 31 trips across the Hungary-Austria border between February and August 2015 and that around half an hour after the ill-fated truck's departure, the migrants indicated with bangs and cries that they were running out of oxygen. They were heard by the driver of the truck and its reconnaissance vehicle.
After a three-hour journey, the driver left the truck on the hard shoulder of the A4 highway in Austria and returned to Hungary in the reconnaissance car.
The following day, the gang smuggled another 67 migrants across the border, again using an unventilated, closed refrigerator lorry.
"This time the migrants were able to kick down the door of the container hold, so no one died," prosecutors said at the time.
They identified the gang leader as a 30-year-old Afghan man, who paid for the operation and organised the transports. A 31-year-old Bulgarian was the head of the human smuggling ring and its two Bulgarian drivers.
Prosecutors were seeking life sentences for the men, who they charged with murder.
On Wednesday, British police said the truck was thought to have entered Britain at Holyhead, a North Wales port that is a major entry point for traffic from Ireland, on Saturday and to have originally started its journey in Bulgaria.
The victims, 38 adults and one teenager, were all pronounced dead at the scene after they were found at the Waterglade Industrial Park, not far from docks on the River Thames.
(Production: Michele Sani) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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