Croat arrested with van full of refugees

During intensified checks on Austrian motorways this week, a 61-year-old Croat was arrested while driving a small truck in whose cargo area 14 refugees were crammed, reports the Patria news agency.

The police of the Austrian province of Burgenland confirmed that the Croatian smuggler was stopped on the night from Friday to Saturday near the town of Neusiedl am See, not far from the location where the death truck was previously found, in which 71 refugees lost their lives.

Details about the refugees have not been disclosed, but it was confirmed that the 61-year-old Croat was arrested for human smuggling and is in pre-trial detention in Eisenstadt.

On the same day in Nickelsdorf, two Hungarians were arrested who were transporting nine migrants, among whom were Syrians, Iraqis and Somalis, reports ORF. Shortly after midnight, an Italian was also stopped in whose vehicle eight men and a child were found.

After Austria intensified controls on motorways in search of human smugglers, queues formed at numerous checkpoints, but several dozen smugglers were also arrested, writes Index.