
As darkness fell across Hungary tonight, thousands of desperate refugees continued their 100-mile march towards the Austrian border in their frantic bid to build a new life in Europe.

Carrying their worldly belongings in their arms, the migrants set out from Keleti railway station in Budapest after Hungarian authorities blocked them from boarding western-bound trains.

In chaotic scenes, thousands chanting 'Germany, Germany' streamed down the main highway from Budapest to Vienna while others sprinted onto railway tracks in Bicske, a town in northern Hungary, escaping a packed train held back by police for two days.

In the commotion, a 51-year-old Pakistani man collapsed about 800 metres from the station and died despite efforts by medics to save him. It is believed he stumbled onto the tracks and hit his head in a desperate bid to flee police, who were clad in riot gear.

The extraordinary scenes prompted Austria and Germany to announce that they would let the refugees into the country after Hungary took the decision to provide buses for the exhausted migrants

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Carrying their worldly belongings, the thousands of desperate refugees - from young children to the elderly - continued their 100-mile march along the M1 motorway from Budapest in Hungary this evening towards the Austrian border in their frantic bid to build a new life in Europe

More than 150,000 people seeking to enter Europe have reached Hungary this year, with most of them coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. Pictured: Migrants walk along the M1 near Budapest today

Migrants walk in a long line - stretching for around half a mile - along the highway near Budapest, Hungary, in their bid to reach Austria

This evening, the refugees continued to snake through Budapest and along the M1 motorway in a line stretching nearly half a mile long

Elsewhere in Hungary today, migrants stormed onto the railway tracks between Bicske and Szar - 40km north of Budapest - in a bid to flee

Desperate migrants reach out to get food and water during their epic 100-mile walk out of Budapest, Hungary, towards the Austrian border

Migrants are escorted to buses by Hungarian police near the migrant reception centre in Roszke, Hungary, after breaking through barriers

Thousands of migrants march long the M1 in Hungary in the direction of Austrian border after being refused access to trains in Budapest

In chaotic scenes, thousands chanting 'Germany, Germany' and holding placards streamed down the main highway from Budapest to Vienna

The chaos contrasted with a vow by Prime Minister Viktor Orban to get to grips with Europe's worst migrant crisis since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

Earlier on Friday, the country's parliament introduced emergency anti-immigration laws which would effectively seal off Hungary's southern border to migrants from September 15.

The new laws include three year jail-terms for people climbing over the new razor wire border fence and will also result in new border 'transit zones' to hold asylum seekers while their applications are being processed.

This evening, the refugees continued to snake through Budapest and along the M1 motorway in a line stretching nearly half a mile as they began their desperate journey to Austria.

The moves for freedom came after Hungarian authorities spent days preventing thousands of people - many fleeing war in Syria - from boarding trains to Germany amid a surging number of desperate people from Asia, Africa and the Middle East seeking refuge in Europe.

Most hope to eventually reach Germany or elsewhere in the West and are trying to avoid registering in Hungary, which is economically depressed and more likely to return them to their home countries than many Western European nations.

Werner Faymann, the Austrian chancellor, announced early on Saturday on his Facebook page that he had spoken to Mr Orban and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whereby they agreed to take the migrants in.

'On the basis of the current situation of need, Austria and Germany agree to allow in this case the onward journey of these refugees into their countries,' the statement said.

That announcement followed Hungary's surprise decision to provide buses for the weary travellers.

Under European law, asylum seekers will be approved or disapproved in the countries where they are first registered.

One man, 23-year-old Osama Morzar, from Aleppo, Syria, was so determined not to be registered in Hungary that he removed his fingerprints with acid, holding up smooth finger pads as proof.

'The government of Hungary is very bad,' said Mr Morzar. 'The United Nations should help.'

Crowds of people were seen attempting to board buses provided by Hungarian authorities for migrants and refugees at Keleti train station in Budapest

A little girl was seen blowing soap bubbles in an underground station at the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary

A father was seen cradling and comforting his child as he sat on board a bus which is supposed to leave for Austria and Germany

Two fathers were seen cradling young children as they attempted to board buses at Keleti train station in Budapest

Angry: Thousands of migrants who have been stuck in Budapest for days have started marching out of the city in a bid to make it to Austria

The migrants snaked through the capital in a line stretching nearly half a mile as they began the 100-mile journey to the Austrian border

Set out from the railways station carrying their belongings after Hungarian authorities blocked them from boarding western-bound trains

Migrants walking along the M1 motorway towards the Austrian border after fleeing Keleti railway station in Budapest earlier this morning

Migrants start the long walk from Keleti railway station in Budapest, Hungary, towards the Austrian border after failing to get on trains

Migrants rest on the ground in Budaorsi Street on their way out of Budapest after they embarked on the 100-mile walk towards Austria today

Migrants who were refused access to trains in Budapest take a break during their 100-mile walk along the M1 motorway out of Budapest

A man shouts during a protest at Keleti train station in Budapest, where migrants have been held on trains or stopped from getting on them

Conditions are becoming more squalid at Keleti station as 3,000 people remain camped out as they wait for a decision by Hungarian authorities

Police officers arrive to stop a fight that reportedly broke out between radical Hungarian football fans and migrants at Keleti Railway Station

Migrants are escorted to buses by Hungarian riot police in front of a migrant reception centre in Roszke, Hungary, earlier this afternoon

Thousands of migrants march long the M1 in Hungary in the direction of Austrian border after being refused access to trains in Budapest

Earlier today, in Bicske - a town in northern Hungary - some 350 people broke through a police cordon and began walking the road to Austria

The refugees snaked through Budapest in a line stretching nearly half a mile as they began the 100-mile journey to the Austrian border. Meanwhile, a stand-off continued for a second day at the station in Bicske, a town that holds one of the country's five camps for asylum seekers

Earlier today, in Bicske, some 350 people broke through a police cordon and began heading to Austria on a train track leading away from the town's railway station.

Surprised riot police scrambled for their helmets as the huge crowd suddenly surged from the front of the train.

Police were able to block only a minority of the estimated 500 people inside, pushing them back onto the train amid much shouting, screaming and crying.

Conditions are also becoming more squalid at Keleti station as 3,000 people remain camped out as they wait for a decision by Hungarian authorities on their fates. Some families have pitched tents, with children playing nearby.

Meanwhile, a stand-off continued for a second day at the station in Bicske, a town north west of Budapest that holds one of the country's five camps for asylum seekers.

Hundreds of people sat on a train there, some with tickets they had purchased to Berlin or Vienna. Although some eventually relented and registered at the asylum centre, most were determined not to.

'The situation is so bad,' said Adnan Shanan, a 35-year-old from Latakia, Syria. 'We have so many sick people on the train. We have pregnant women, no food, no water.

'We don't need to stay here one more day. We need to move to Munich, to anywhere else, we can't stay here. We can't wait until tomorrow. We need a decision today, now.'

Migrants pictured marching through Budapest having remained for days because they're not allowed to get on trains heading west

Migrants cross the Erzsebet bridge in Budapest, Hungary, as they head for Austria on foot after not being allowed to travel by train

Police handed out cuddly toys to children and water bottles but some migrants poured their drinks onto the ground in disgust

Making a dash for it: Migrants jump over a fence to escape a refugee camp in the Hungarian town of Bicske to avoid being processed

Drastic action: Carrying just a few possessions, they climbed the five-foot high picket fence before making their way off

Farcial: As soon as the group departed from the bus which brought them to the camp, they made a dash for the exit

The scenes in Bicske come as Hungary's Prime Minister warned the influx of Muslim refugees was threatening Europe's 'Christian roots'

Desperate: Hungarian lawmakers debated tough new anti-immigration measures on Friday , including criminalising illegal border crossings

Furious at their treatment, they began chanting 'Germany! Germany!' – their intended destination after a treacherous journey of hundreds miles.

Others brandished placards with the words 'SOS' and 'Help!' while another held by a child read: 'I need to go to Germany for life.' Police handed out water bottles but some migrants poured the drinks onto the ground in disgust. Children were handed cuddly toys.

Today, lawmakers in the country declared a 'state of crisis caused by mass immigration', which allows the police and army to assist in registering asylum-applications and operate detention facilities in registration camps.

'If we do not protect our borders, tens of millions of migrants will keep coming to Europe,' right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a statement.

'If we allow everyone in, that is the end of Europe. We may one morning wake up and realise that we are in the minority on our own continent.

Orban had earlier warned the influx of Muslim migrants was threatening 'Christian roots', describing the wave of refugees as 'endless' and warning that 'many tens of millions' more would come if the EU did not protect its borders.

Migrants, including whole families, cross the fence to leave a migrant reception centre in Roszke, on the Serbia border on Friday

Around 300 migrants broke out of a camp in Roszke, on the Serbia border, and ran for the motorway in their bid to reach Austrian

Officials said the refugees fled in two groups at around 9.30am GMT, adding that police have taken 'the necessary steps' to detain them

Wave of discontent: Dozens of migrants march to the gates before jumping out from inside a refugee camp in Bicske, Hungary

As soon as the group departed from the bus which brought them, they made a dash for the exit, some carrying children on their shoulders

Dozens of migrants march to the gates after being dropped off by bus before jumping out from inside a refugee camp in Bicske, Hungary

The refugees are trying to avoid the centres because they do not want to pursue asylum claims in Hungary, which is economically depressed

The migrants had been transported to the refugee camp in Bicske, 20 miles west of Budapest, to be processed

For days, Hungarian authorities have been preventing refugees from Syria and elsewhere from travelling to Austria and Germany

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists the human wave is a German problem, but chancellor Angela Merkel said the obligation to protect refugees 'applies not just in Germany, but in every European member'

In an opinion piece for Germany's Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung, Orban wrote that his country was being 'overrun' with refugees, noting that most were Muslims, while 'Europe and European culture have Christian roots'.

'We must not forget that those who are coming in have been brought up under a different religion and represent a profoundly different culture,' wrote the conservative Hungarian leader.

'The majority are not Christians but Muslims. That is an important question because Europe and European culture have Christian roots.

'Or is it not already, and in itself, alarming that Europe's Christian culture is barely able to uphold Europe's own Christian values?'

He later told a public radio station: 'The reality is that Europe is threatened by a mass inflow of people, many tens of millions of people could come to Europe.

'Now we talk about hundreds of thousands but next year we will talk about millions and there is no end to this,' he said.

'All of a sudden we will see that we are in minority in our own continent.'

Anger: Migrants protest at a railway station in Hungary after their train was stopped by police and ordered to be taken to a refugee camp

Around 300 people refused to board buses in Biscke – a town 22 miles from Budapest – after police stopped them reaching the Austrian border

Desperate: Furious at their treatment and feeling they had been tricked onto the train, some migrants held placards reading 'SOS' and 'Help us'

Migrants stand behind a fence after getting off a train that was stopped in Bicske, Hungary, as police try to shepherd them to a refugee camp

Spelling it out: The scene of desperation was just one of many that unfolded as tempers flared in Hungary's war of wills with migrants trying to evade asylum checks and reach Western Europe, a showdown with consequences for the entire continent

The question of how to manage the crisis was hotly debated in Brussels at meetings between EU leaders and Hungary's prime minister.

His chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said 160,000 migrants had reached Hungary this year, 90,000 of them in the past two months alone, representing around half of all asylum-seekers in Europe.

'We Hungarians are full of fear,' Mr Orban told a Brussels news conference, warning that the acceptance of so many Muslims from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere would erode Europe's Christian bedrock.

He confirmed his government's plan to send at least 3,000 troops to Hungary's southern border with Serbia, where police patrols, razor-wire coils and a 13ft fence are already in place to deter new arrivals from the non-EU member.

Mr Orban said Hungary's dilemma was really 'a German problem. Nobody would like to stay in Hungary. All of them would like to go to Germany.'

Police guard a train full of refugees stuck in a stalemate as they refuse get off at the station, fearing they would be put up in a refugee camp

Forlorn: Women rest on the train. Hungary's anti-immigrant prime minister warned European partners that he intends to make his country's borders an impassible fortress for new arrivals

EGYPTIAN BILLIONAIRE OFFERS TO BUY ISLAND FROM GREECE OR ITALY SO MIGRANTS CAN 'BUILD A NEW COUNTRY' An Egyptian billionaire has offered to buy an island off Greece or Italy and develop it to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from Syria and other conflicts. Telecoms tycoon Naguib Sawiris first announced the initiative on Twitter. 'Greece or Italy sell me an island, I'll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country,' he wrote. More than 2,300 people have died at sea trying to reach Europe since January, many of them Syrians who fled their country's four-and-a-half year conflict. Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to buy an island from Greece or Italy so migrants can build their own country Sawiris said in a television interview that he would approach the governments of Greece and Italy about his plan. Asked whether he believed it could work, he said: 'Of course it's feasible.' 'You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.' Sawiris said an island off Greece or Italy could cost between $10 million and $100 million, but added the 'main thing is investment in infrastructure'. There would be 'temporary shelters to house the people, then you start employing the people to build housing, schools, universities, hospitals. 'And if things improve, whoever wants to go back (to their homeland) goes back,' said Sawiris, whose family developed the popular El Gouna resort on Egypt's Red Sea coast. He conceded such a plan could face challenges, including the likely difficulty of persuading Greece or Italy to sell an island, and figuring out jurisdiction and customs regulations. But those who took shelter would be treated as 'human beings,' he said. 'The way they are being treated now, they are being treated like cattle.' Sawiris is the chief executive of Orascom TMT, which operates mobile telephone networks in a number of Middle Eastern and African countries plus Korea as well as underwater communications networks. He also owns an Egyptian television channel. Advertisement