Icon: enlarge
Bruck an der Leitha: There were dozens of migrants in this truck, which apparently had no ventilation
Photo: dpa
In Austria, dozens of migrants freed themselves from a refrigerated truck after shouting loudly to draw the driver's attention to their plight.
According to the Lower Austria state police department, the incident occurred last Wednesday evening near the Leitha West motorway exit.
The police had received several reports that numerous people had got out of a trailer and fled into the surrounding fields.
The police then searched the area extensively with a helicopter and several police patrols.
A total of 38 people had been provisionally arrested in accordance with the Aliens Police Act, and according to the police, some of them were in poor health.
The refrigerated truck had no way of ventilation.
Several children in the interior
According to the police, those affected reported fear of death and lack of oxygen while driving.
Numerous people were therefore temporarily passed out, one person collapsed.
They managed to attract attention so loudly that the van stopped briefly.
According to the migrants, there were a total of 43 people in the hold, including six children.
The people from Syria, Iraq and Turkey were therefore brought to Austria by smugglers from Romania via Hungary.
A 51-year-old was identified as the driver of the truck and arrested.
The tachograph and shipping documents had evidently been tampered with, and the inside of the trailer could not be seen from behind through large cardboard rolls.
The migrants said they had paid thousands of euros for the services of the smugglers.
Icon: The mirror
fek / dpa
