'50' refugees found dead in Austrian freezer truck as passing motorists describe "terrible smell of death"

A footage posted online shows the truck where up to 50 refugees have been found dead.

The grim discovery was made after a refrigerated vehicle was spotted by a workman on the hard shoulder of A4 in eastern Austria today.

A massive manhunt is now thought to be in progress to find those who were driving the truck.

Meanwhile Austria's interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner spoke of a "dark day".

A police spokesman told a news conference he could not put an exact figure on the number of victims.

"We can assume that it could be 20 people who died. It could also be 40, it could be 50 people," he said.

National police director Hanspeter Doskozil told Krone: "We can at this point not make any concrete details on how the death occurred."

At a press conference Ms Mikl-Leitner called for zero-tolerance and said the trafficking "mafia" belong "behind bars"

Justice Minister Wolfgang Brandstetter said he was "shocked, deeply saddened and angry".

He described people smuggling as an "unscrupulous and murderous form of severe crime".

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