Police in Austria say the 71 migrants found dead in an abandoned lorry last week appear to have died of suffocation almost immediately after being sealed in.
The refrigerated truck was abandoned on the hard shoulder of a motorway near the eastern town of Parndorf, not far from the Hungarian border.
“Given the number of people and the lack of room inside the truck, at this stage of the investigation we have come to the conclusion that death occurred within a very short timespan for the 71 people concerned, and that happened most definitely on Hungarian territory.”, Hans Peter Doskozil, the Director of Police for Burgenland told reporters at a press conference.
Five arrested
DNA was collected from the driver’s cabin.
Four Bulgarian nationals have been arrested in connection with the deaths, along with one Afghan.
None of the 59 men, 8 women and four children who died in the lorry has been formally identified.