2nd LD Writethru: 11 smugglers indicted in Hungary for causing death of 71 migrants

An international group of human smugglers was indicted in Hungary for homicide and smuggling perpetrated in a criminal organization, in the tragic case of 71 migrants who suffocated in a closed truck on the motorway between Budapest and Vienna in August 2015.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bacs-Kiskun county has indicted 11 people -- Afghans, Bulgarians and Lebanese citizens -- who left a cooling truck filled with 71 people on the side of the motorway in Parndorf, Austria, the prosecutor's office informed in an official statement released on Thursday. The migrants already died in Hungary.

Of the 11 suspects, 9 are in pre-trail detention, while two men are missing. The prosecutor demanded a life-sentence for four of the suspects, and prison sentences for the others. The Kecskemet city Court will decide on the relevant verdicts.

The prosecutor's office also explained that the criminals organized the illegal crossing of 1,200 people in 31 occasions through Western Europe, between February and August of 2015. They used closed trucks, without enough air, unsuitable for human transport.

The 30 year-old Afghan leader of the criminals earned some 300,000 euros with the illegal transports.

On some occasions, the smugglers crammed as many as 100 people in one transport, according to the statement, which also specified that the 71 victims were 59 men, 8 women and 4 children.

An aggravating circumstance was the fact that the suspects have repeated their inhuman action just a day after the tragedy, placing 67 migrants in a similar, closed truck with no ventilation system.

They were transported to Austria and luckily they have survived by a close shot, as they had to kick the door of the truck out from the inside to get fresh air. Endit