A truck full of refugees discovered abandoned on an Austrian motorway on Thursday contains more than 70 bodies, including four children, the interior ministry said on Friday, announcing an updated death toll.

Austrian police had originally put the toll at up to 50 and were expected to announce the exact number on Friday. The vehicle had come to Austria from Hungary.

The refrigerated truck was found by an Austrian highway patrol near the Hungarian border just before lunchtime on Thursday.

It had been left abandoned on the roadside of the highway, which leads from Hungary to the Austrian capital of Vienna.

"Work continued throughout the night, but I expect all the bodies have been removed now," said Helmut Marban, a police spokesman for the Burgenland province. "Forensic investigators are still at the lorry and trying to establish all the facts."

Three people were arrested in Hungary in connection with the vehicle deaths, Austria's Krone newspaper said.

Reuters

(China Daily 08/29/2015 page9)