Abandoned truck holds over 20 dead migrants in Austria

Migrants rush to protected areas as razor-wire borders near completion

A police manhunt takes place after the discovery of an abandoned truck containing the bodies of migrants attempting to cross Austria's border.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Austrian police report up to 50 migrants suffocated in the back of a refrigerated food delivery truck found on the A4 Eastern Motorway in Austria.

A spokesperson for the Austrian interior ministry confirmed that though the truck was discovered, there was no definitive number of deceased migrants, saying, "Unfortunately there are many dead people in there."

Austrian police report the vehicle was abandoned on the side of the road on Wednesday, but was not searched until Thursday morning after local workers reported its presence. The people had been dead long enough to begin decomposing.

Channel 4 News' Lindsey Hilsum Tweeted from the scene with a photo and the words, "Terrible smell of death as we passed."

"People dying in their dozens -whether crammed into a truck or a ship - en route to seek safety or better lives is a tragic indictment of Europe's failures to provide alternative routes," Amnesty International's deputy director for Europe, Gauri van Gulik, responded to the discovery. "What's urgently needed is what Amnesty international has been saying for years: Europe has to step up and provide protection to more, share responsibility better and show solidarity to other countries and to those most in need."

Europe currently faces a continent-wide migrant problem, with a record number of 3,241 illegal entry attempts as of Wednesday. Neighboring country Hungary is close to completing a razor-wire fence that will span the 110-mil length of its border with Syria which has migrants rushing to the Schengen Area of free movement within the EU.

Migration issues top the priority agenda for Austria's President Heinz Fischer in the Vienna Western Balkans Conference between the EU and six Balkan states including Macedonia and Serbia.

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