Austria migrant lorry found with critically ill children

Three children have been found in a critical condition after being rescued from a lorry in Austria that contained 26 migrants, police said.

The lorry was stopped in Braunau district and the Romanian driver was arrested after a chase.

Those inside were said to be from Syria, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Separately, four men appeared in court in Hungary following the discovery of another truck in Austria last week containing the bodies of 71 people.

The three Bulgarians and an Afghan, who were arrested in Hungary, were remanded in custody until 29 September. Austria is expected to seek their extradition.

In the latest incident – which happened early on Friday but was not reported until Saturday – the three children were taken to hospital suffering from severe dehydration.

Officials said their lives were no longer in danger but they are still in hospital.

Police had tried to stop the vehicle near St Peter am Hart and gave chase when it drove off at speed.

The discovery of the 71 bodies in the lorry left on a roadside near the Hungarian border last week led to an outcry.

Officials said the 59 men, eight women and four children had probably died of suffocation two days earlier.

Police were alerted when a road worker saw liquid seeping from the vehicle and the badly decomposing bodies were found inside. The victims are thought to be mainly Syrians.

Police believe the vehicle found its way there as part of a Bulgarian-Hungarian human smuggling network.

BBC