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Austrian border police check freight trains from Italy

The Local Austria
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Austrian border police check freight trains from Italy
Steinach am Brenner train station. Photo: Piergiuliano Chesi

After two migrants were crushed to death on a freight train at the beginning of December, police in Tyrol are now inspecting cargo trains crossing the border from Italy.

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Officers and security guards began with searches of 10 freight trains at Steinach station, located on the Brenner pass. Police said that trains will mainly be stopped and searched at night. 

The searches come after the deaths of two Eritreans in early December, who were attempting to smuggle themselves into Austria and were crushed as the freight train they were on was being unloaded. 

“We avoid catastrophes on a daily basis,” said Gerald Tatzgern, head of the Austrian Interior Ministry's anti-human trafficking unit.

In the previous month, more than 90 African migrants and refugees have been intercepted by police in Tyrol, who were thought to be heading towards Germany.

According to Tyrol police spokesman Manfred Dummer, “Illegal migrants always try to scout out new ways to get north. We have reacted to this phenomenon of freight train stowaways with intensified controls.”

Austrian police want an agreement from the Italian authorities that trains will be stopped and searched immediately before they enter Austria. 

 

 

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