At least 20 bodies discovered in abandoned lorry in Austria

THE bodies of at least 20 people, with estimates as high as 40 or 50, have been found in a lorry in Austria, believed to have suffocated. 

According to police reports, the partially decomposed remains were found on Thursday (August 27) in a lorry parked on the hard shoulder of the A4 motorway between Neusiedl and Parndorf. 

The refrigerated lorry, apparently abandoned since Wednesday, had Hungarian licence plates. It carries the logo of a poultry company, Hyza, although that company said it no longer owned the vehicle.

The head of the local district police, Hans Peter Doskozil, said at least 20 bodies were inside the lorry, although the state of decomposition had made it difficult to establish a number and the toll could be as high as 40 or 50. 

He said: “The deaths already occurred some time ago. We can make no concrete assumptions about the origin or cause [of death]. We can assume, however, that they are refugees.”

The grim find was made while European leaders attended a conference in Vienna to discuss the emergency situation regarding migrants trying to make their way to Europe.