Authorities in Vienna, Austria made a horrific discovery Thursday morning while investigating a box truck that was abandoned along the side of a highway — bodies, between 20 to 50 of them, already beginning to decompose in the trailer.
The victims are believed to be refugees, part of the giant wave of migrants fleeing the Middle East and Africa for Europe, and dying in large numbers as they make the dangerous journey. Plenty has been reported about the thousands who have died at sea, but this is a new wrinkle in the worsening crisis.
From The Associated Press:
Migrants fearful of death at sea in overcrowded and flimsy boats as they flee turmoil and war in the Middle East have increasingly turned to using a land route to Europe through the Western Balkans. But the discovery of the bodies in the truck on the main highway connecting Vienna to the Hungarian capital of Budapest showed there is no truly safe path.
The New York Times quoted German chancellor Angela Merkel as saying “We are all shaken by this terrible news that up to 50 people have lost their lives because they got into a situation where smugglers did not care about their lives."
Merkel, coincidentally, was in Vienna meeting with other European leaders about the migrant crisis.
