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More than 70 refugees are now believed to have died after their remains were found in the back of a freezer truck at the roadside.

The grim discovery was made after a workman mowing the grass on the hard shoulder of A4, in eastern Austria, noticed a putrid liquid leaking from the vehicle.

It is thought the victims became trapped in the trailer and suffocated around two days before their bodies were discovered.

Channel 4 reporter Lindsey Hilsum Tweeted of a "terrible smell of death" as she passed the vehicle.

Police said identifying the number of victims has been difficult as their bodies were so badly decomposed.

(Image: Rex) (Image: Reuters)

Spokesman Peter Doskozil told a press conference: "It's not clear exactly how many people were inside. It was not possible to verify this visually.

"At the moment we do not know if women and children were among the dead.

"Taking into consideration the current weather conditions we can perhaps assume the time of death was one-and-a-half to two days ago."

Austrian newspaper Krone reported three people were arrested in Hungary this morning after a huge manhunt was launched.

(Image: Getty) (Image: Rex)

German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said she was “shaken by the awful news”

She said: "This reminds us that we in Europe need to tackle the problem quickly and find solutions in the spirit of solidarity.

Meanwhile, Austria's interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner spoke of a "dark day" for the country.

She added the government would take a 'zero-tolerance' approach and said the trafficking "mafia" belong "behind bars"

(Image: Reuters) (Image: Reuters)

The vehicle was towed away from the scene for the bodies to be removed and it is now being examined by forensics officers.

The 7.5-tonne vehicle had previously belonged to Slovakian chicken meat company Hyza and still has the slogan “honest chicken” on the side.

The company said it sold the lorry in 2014.

According Hungarian officials, it is registered to a Romanian citizen from the central city of Kecskemét.