Following refugee tragedy: Austria introduces stronger controls

Austria has stepped up controls on its eastern borders, the Interior Minister announced on Monday, after 71 refugees were found dead last week in an abandoned truck on an Austrian highway, having arrived from Hungary, reports the Patria News Agency.

"We will carry out controls until further notice at all major border crossings in the east, inspecting all vehicles that have hiding places for smuggled people," Johanna Mikl-Leitner told ORF radio.

Austria has eastern borders with Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. Kilometre-long queues began to form on the Hungarian highway leading to Austria on Monday after Austria introduced stricter controls, reported the Hungarian news agency MTI.

On the M1 highway, the queue reached 20 kilometres, and queues also began to form on other roads towards Austria.

Over the past three days, Hungarian police have apprehended 8,792 migrants who illegally crossed into Hungary, mainly from Serbia. Hungarian police announced on Sunday that they had also arrested a fifth person suspected in the deaths of 71 migrants who, according to initial autopsy findings, suffocated in a refrigerated truck, writes Index.