The 46-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of smuggling. He parked the truck in a parking lot for hours and didn’t respond to knocks.
54 refugees, including three women and a child, were found in a semi-trailer parked in the A1 Großram car park in the municipality of Pressbaum (district of St. Pölten). According to police reports, the truck driver, a 46-year-old Polish national, had placed the team in the scorching sun for more than an hour on Friday and did not respond to knocks. He was arrested and taken to St. Polten.
Alland Motorway Police Inspectorate officers noticed the semi-trailer truck on Thursday afternoon. Knocking noises had already been reported to the executive over the phone. There, the trailer, in which it was about 40 degrees, was immediately opened. The refugees were taken to a shady spot and given drinks from Asfinag in cooperation with the rescue service.
3000 euros paid for transport
Investigations by the Lower Austria State Criminal Police, human trafficking/smuggling department, revealed that migrants reportedly paid around €3,000 per person for transport from a camp in Serbia to Austria. It is said that they were taken to the Serbian-Hungarian border, where, with the help of traffickers, they climbed over a border fence. The refugees should then have been picked up by the articulated lorry. The driver did not stop during the eight to nine hours of travel. In addition, it is said that the drinks on board were not enough to quench the migrants’ thirst.
All 54 people filed an application for international protection. After first aid and interrogation, they were taken to the Schwechat Foreigners’ Police Station. The refugees come from Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Afghanistan and Turkey, Lower Austria state police said in a broadcast.
The 46-year-old man is suspected of having already carried out a similar towing. Investigations into possible additional tours are ongoing. When questioned, the Polish citizen did not confess.
(APA)