By NewsGram Staff Writer

Upto 50 bodies have been found in a truck on a highway in Austria, authorities say. Austrian police believe that the people inside were already dead when the truck crossed Austria.

The bodies were discovered after a highway patrol officer investigated a pungent smell and liquid coming from the back of a truck abandoned near the Austrian village of Parndorf on the main expressway between Vienna and Budapest.

The truck displayed the logo of a Slovakian poultry company, Hyza, which said in a statement that the vehicle no longer belonged to the firm – but the new owners had not removed the branding.

Austria's Chancellor Werner Faymann said the tragedy showed once again "how necessary it is to save lives by combating criminals and people traffickers".

Forensics record that it will take several days to secure an evidence. Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner announced that Austria would tighten its border controls in order to keep a check on international trains in the coming days. She also denounced that we all ought to show "zero tolerance" for people smugglers.

The timing of the unfortunate incident is such, that it comes along with a summit focusing on migration taking place in the Austrian capital, Vienna.