Three Bulgarians Detained over Death of 71 Migrants in Truck in Austria

Austrian and Hungarian police have launched a joint investigation into the death of 71 migrants, including eight women and four children, in a refrigeration truck in Austria.

An Austrian police official said at a news conference in the town of Eisenstadt that one of the people arrested in Hungary as driver of the truck is a Bulgarian national.

The other person detained as driver carried Hungarian documents, while a third one in police custody in Hungary - believed to be the owner of the vehicle - was a Bulgarian citizen of Lebanese origin.

Police are investigating a Bulgarian-Hungarian people smuggling ring, according to CNN.

Austrian police said earlier that a fourth man suspected of involvement in the tragedy - an Afghan national was also detained.

The bodies of 71 dead migrants have been recovered from an abandoned truck found on Austria's A4 motorway between Neusiedl and Parndorf near the borders with Slovakia and Hungary on Thursday morning, the Austrian government said earlier on Friday.

All of the people found dead in the truck appeared to have suffocated and died before they entered the country, according to Austrian police. Austrian police said of the 71 dead, 59 were men, eight women and four children.