More than 70 bodies have been found inside a truck abandoned on an Austrian highway, much higher than the initial estimate.
The dead are believed to be refugees, highlighting once again the scale of the migration crisis gripping Europe.
The white truck was found Thursday, abandoned on the side of the A4 highway, which links Budapest in Hungary to the Austrian capital, Vienna.
When police opened the back of it, they found the bodies decomposing in the heat.
Initially, the Austrian government offered an estimate of between 20 and 50 bodies. The truck was taken to a refrigerated facility, where officials came up with the updated count.
The grim discovery came just a day after the Italian coast guard said 54 people lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean.
“This horrible crime shows that we must get even tougher in the battle against people smuggling,” Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said at a news conference.
“People smugglers are criminals and not well-minded helpers. They do not care about the well-being of the refugees, they care about profit.”