Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans among 71 migrants found dead in truck

Police chief says migrants had likely died from suffocation on Hungarian territory shortly after entering the truck

EISENSTADT, AUSTRIA: Among the 71 dead migrants found last week in an abandoned truck on an Austrian motorway were Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan nationals but not a single one of them has been identified, Austrian police said on Friday.

Hans Peter Doskozil, police chief for the province of Burgenland, told a news conference that the migrants had likely died from suffocation on Hungarian territory shortly after entering the truck, whose refrigeration system was not working.

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"We found a total of 17 travel documents. Based on these we have been able to determine that this was a mixed group of people. Syrian nationals, Iraqis and also Afghans are likely to have been on board," Doskozil said.

He said 40 phones had also been found and there had been contact with people who claimed to be relatives of the victims.