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Long border delays as Austria introduces new controls

Huge traffic queues have formed on a Hungarian motorway leading to Austria after border controls were tightened in a bid to clamp down on human trafficking.

Austrian officials put tougher checks in place on the country's eastern border after the bodies of 71 migrants were found in the back of a lorry abandoned on a motorway.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident.

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Police chief: Austrian lorry deaths caused by 'suffocation'

The 71 people who were found dead in an abandoned lorry in Austria yesterday died of suffocation, according to the Austrian police chief heading up the investigation.

The abandoned lorry was spotted by Austrian motorway patrols around lunchtime on Thursday Credit: REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader

Police chief Hans Peter Doskozil also confirmed the passengers in the lorry were suspected migrants as a "Syrian travel document" was found in the vehicle.

Speaking at a press conference today Doskozil said authorities believed the lorry had been parked on the highway for at least 24 hours before it was discovered and a Bulgarian-Hungarian trafficking ring was thought to be behind the deaths.

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