Austrian police to use heartbeat detectors to prevent people smuggling via truck

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Austria's Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner, and the country's Federal Police Director, Michael Takacs, have announced a number of measures to prevent people smuggling and illegal migration. A number of the announced measures concern special scanning equipment that will be used to check lorries at border points.

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Photo: The original uploader was Rhilber at German Wikipedia.(Original text: Ing. Richard Hilber), CC BY-SA 2.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped)

The equipment that will be used includes 50 new drones, 7 more thermal imaging cameras and 7 heartbeat detectors.

“Of these seven devices, six will be used in Austria, with one device to be used abroad during Austrian police operations. These devices are state-of-the-art and can fight the smugglers even more efficiently and with the latest technology,” said Karner, as quoted by state broadcaster ORF.

Takacs said that police would be able to check trucks “in just a few minutes” using the equipment.

Takacs added:

“At the border crossing in Nickelsdorf, an average of 2,700 trucks enter Austria every day. This means that we have an enormous control effort here. And this new equipment is a massive support for us, on the one hand to fight trafficking crime, but on the other hand to save human lives.”

According to ORF, the devices are to be used from Saturday at border crossings in Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, Lower Austria and Burgenland.

Photo: The original uploader was Rhilber at German Wikipedia.(Original text: Ing. Richard Hilber), CC BY-SA 2.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped)