“We were all shaken by the horrible news that up to 50 people lost their lives because they were in a situation where people-smugglers did not care about their lives,” Merkel said at a summit of western Balkan leaders in Vienna.
“This is despite the fact that these people were seeking safety and protection but came to such as tragic end,” she said.
“This is a warning to us to tackle this migrants issue quickly and in a European spirit, which means in a spirit of solidarity, and to find solutions,” she told delegates at the summit which has been dominated by the migrant crisis.
Austrian police discovered the bodies in a lorry with Hungarian number plates parked by the side of a motorway near the Slovakian and Hungarian borders.
They said there may be as many as 50 bodies inside, but the cause of death was not immediately clear. The lorry is believed to have been there since Aug. 26.
The truck was towed away on Aug. 27 in the afternoon without the corpses being unloaded, an AFP photographer at the scene near Parndorf in Burgenland said.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said it “showed once again how necessary it is to save the lives of people by fighting criminality and people-smuggling.”
Western Balkan countries are facing “huge challenges” handling tens of thousands of migrants trying to get to the EU, Merkel said.
“It is our responsibility to help them.”
At least 55 dead bodies were discovered Aug. 26 on three overcrowded migrant boats in the Mediterranean, according to the Italian coastguard, on a day that saw some 3,000 others rescued in the sea.
Almost all of the victims were found in the hold of a boat found drifting off the Libyan coast by a Swedish vessel. Media reports said they had choked to death on gas fumes.
The macabre discoveries add to a toll of more than 2,300 people who have drowned in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2015, already exceeding the death toll for the whole of 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
In Hungary, another country overwhelmed by record numbers arriving, there were ugly scenes in the border town of Roszke as police fired tear gas at people who were trying to leave a refugee processing center after refusing to be fingerprinted.
Hungarian lawmakers will vote next week on whether to send troops to stem the influx, as more than 2,500 people crossed into the EU country from its southern frontier with Serbia, days before the completion of the razor-wire fence.
AFP
hurriyetdailynews.com
27/8/15
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Related:
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Merkel booed by German protesters at refugee centre
Hungary sends 2,100 police to Serbia border to stem migrant influx
Czech Vice PM Calls for Closing External Borders of Shengen
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Migrant crisis summit overshadowed by new tragedies...
ReplyDeleteAs many as 50 corpses were found in a parked lorry in Austria on Thursday, and another migrant boat sank off Libya, deepening a crisis that is overwhelming Europe and throwing up new tragedies by the day.
The abandoned refrigerated lorry was found by an Austrian motorway patrol near the Hungarian border, with fluids from the decomposing bodies seeping from its back door.
“One can maybe assume that the deaths occurred one-and-a-half to two days ago,” Hans Peter Doskozil, police chief in the province of Burgenland, told a news conference, adding that “many things” indicated the migrants were already dead when the truck crossed the border.
Police said it could take until Friday to determine the exact number of victims, which they thought would be more than 20 and could be as many as 50. They suspected those responsible were already out of the country.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a summit on the West Balkans in Vienna: “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 find solutions.”............http://www.france24.com/en/20150827-europe-migrant-crisis-balkans-summit-austria-lorry-truck
Plus de 70 corps de migrants retrouvés dans un camion en Autriche...
ReplyDeleteLes autorités autrichiennes ont retrouvé plus de 70 corps de migrants dans le camion découvert jeudi sur le bord d'une autoroute de l'est de l'Autriche. Selon des médias autrichiens, trois personnes soupçonnées d'être les passeurs ont été arrêtées.
La police autrichienne a extrait plus de 70 corps de migrants du camion découvert jeudi 27 août, abandonné sur la bande d'arrêt d'urgence d'une autoroute de l'est de l'Autriche, non loin de la frontière avec la Hongrie et la Slovaquie.
Une estimation initiale de 20 à 50 corps avait été annoncée juste après la macabre découverte, jeudi dans la matinée. Selon le porte-parole du ministère de l'Intérieur, le comptage a été rendu très difficile par l'état de décomposition avancée des corps.
Aucune information n'a été donnée sur les identités, âges, pays d'origine des personnes qui se trouvaient dans le camion, dans l'attente d'une conférence de presse de la police de l'État du Burgenland, où a été découvert le camion, prévue à 11 h.
Le véhicule, un camion frigorifique de 7,5 tonnes, était immatriculé en Hongrie et portait le logo d'une entreprise de volaille slovaque. Son chauffeur a disparu dans la nature....france24.com
28/8/15