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1st LD Writethru: First refugees arrive at Munich central station

Xinhua, September 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The first batch of refugees coming by train from Hungary via Austria arrived at Munich central station at noon time on Saturday, with more expected to come later in the day.

The special train drove in at about 13:30 local time and stopped at the No. 27 platform. Meanwhile, another train of German railway company Deutsche Bahn had already waited at the opposite platform.

After debarking from the special train, refugees were instructed by police directly to the waiting train, which is said to drive to a first reception center, 3 km west of the central station.

According to German police, they originally expected there to be 400 refugees on the special train, with most of them from Syria. Then German police later said the exact number was 250.

German police said that another special train as well as 12 regular passenger trains carrying hundreds of refugees respectively are expected to arrive at Munich later on Saturday.

Hungary had decided on Friday night to bring refugees stuck at Budapest by bus to the Austrian border. Austria and Germany then declared their willingness to accept them.

Altogether, up to 10,000 refugees are expected to come to Germany on Saturday. Endit