Migrant wave into Austria continues unabated

The current wave of migrants pouring over the Austrian border into the state of Styria has shown no signs of letting up Thursday, with police and other authorities again working at their limits.

About 6,000 people were reported to have gathered at the Spielfeld gathering point for the migrants, located just across the border to Slovenia, on Wednesday evening. About 2,000 were still in the evening hours transported on to emergency quarters in the Styrian capital of Graz, and other states.

Four thousand people then remained to spend the night at the town of Spielfeld, the Red Cross stating that all had room to sleep in the five large, heated tents erected at the site.

Local authorities had once again chosen to open the barriers into Austria, fearing a sudden influx of migrants could inflate their numbers too quickly resulting in injury, though later reported that despite about 3,000 persons arriving in a short space of time, they acted in an orderly manner.

Beginning early Thursday, 17 army buses along with 45 civilian buses were in operation to aid in the quick onward transportation of the persons at the Spielfeld site.

Kronen Zeitung reported that special trains in operation from Graz had also taken 1,300 migrants onwards, with similar trains scheduled throughout the day headed to destinations in the states of Upper Austria and Salzburg, both bordering onto Germany. Endit