Austrian police have started searching freight trains travelling from Italy at night in an attempt to tackle illegal migration and prevent further deaths.<br /><br /> In temperatures of around minus four degrees Celsius, police officers and rail security guards in Steinach station searched 10 freight trains, some of which were 600 metres long.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> AUSTRIA – Increasing Number of Migrants Smuggled In Freight Trains https://t.co/dr8KSSCs3k pic.twitter.com/r11qAh2J76— Voice of Europe (@V_of_Europe) December 1, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Crushed to death<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The decision comes after two stowaways died earlier this month.<br /><br /> A man and a woman from Eritrea had hidden on a train bringing trucks from southern Italy.<br /><br /> They were crushed to death in the Tyrol region of Austria. Investigators say it is likely they had lost consciousness, due to the freezing winter temperatures.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The numbers<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Since early November, police in the Tyrol have picked up around 90 African migrants heading for Germany. <br /><br /> The rail link is mainly used by cargo trains going from Italy across the Alps. <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The Balkan route<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Austria championed the de-facto closing this spring of the Balkan route.<br /><br /> Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war, violence and destruction in the Middle East and Afghanistan used it to reach western Europe last year.<br /><br /> Countries like the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Hungary have strongly tightened controls of road traffic and border regions.<br /><br /> Fences have also been erected.<br /><br /> This, and a deal the European Union reached with Turkey to stem the flow, have resulted in more and more people resorting to travelling across the Mediterranean in flimsy boats to reach Italy.<br /><br /> Most of them want to travel north to Austria, Germany or the Scandinavian countries.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> What they are saying<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> “Illegal migrants always try to scout out new ways to get north. We have reacted to this phenomenon of freight train stowaways with intensified controls,” – Manfred Dummer, Tyrol police.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> “We avoid catastrophes on a daily basis,” – Gerald Tatzgem, head of the anti-human trafficking unit at Austria’s Interior Ministry.<br />
