Half-mile long trail of refugees escape from Hungarian police to WALK 110 miles to Austria
NEARLY a thousand migrants have broken away from police in Hungary in an attempt to walk 110 miles to Austria, before making their way on to Germany.
Migrants begin the long walk to Austria after all trains to the area were cancelled
One of them, a 50-year-old from Pakistan, has already died shortly after beginning the trek across the border.
Paramedics battled for around 50 minutes to save his life after he fell onto the tracks after leaving a train, which had been left standing for more than a day, at a national border camp at Bicske.
The migrants - including many desperate refugees fleeing war and persecution - forced their way through police barricades in both Bicske and the capital Budapest, 22 miles to the west, as they started the journey on foot after international train routes from Hungary were halted.
The Pakistani man, who is believed to have died from a heart attack, was one of 350 who had escaped the train.
Another 500 migrants, led by a Syrian refugee, fled the station in Budapest to walk along the main road west to Vienna shouting "Germany, Germany".
One of them, Musa Hal, 36, from Syria, told the Daily Mirror: "The people of Hungary do not want to help so we have no choice.
"We will walk till we drop. We have suffered so this is just another stop along the way."
Hungary: Desperate refugees begin their long march to Germany
500 migrants began trekking from Budapest today
Reports suggested a Syrian man led the march
It came amid chaotic scenes at the Keleti railway station in the city's capital as football fans clashed with refugees.
On their way to the Hungary and Romania international match at the Puskas Ferenc Stadium, the home side's 'ultra' fans and immigrants at the station had to be separated by police.
The fans were cheering "Go Go Hungary" as they attacked the refugees who responded with chants in Arabic.
The migrants who fled Bicske are refusing to register their asylum claims in Hungary and are instead intent on getting to the Austrian border.
The migrants are on their way to Austria before continuing to Germany
Paramedics treat an injured man near Bicske
A football fan launches an attack on immigrants at Keleti station
Politically, the situation has intensified with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban saying he did not want large numbers of Muslims in his country.
Speaking yesterday, he said: "We do not like the consequences of having large numbers of Muslim communities that we see in other countries, and I see no reason for anyone to force us to create ways of living together. Therefore, there are differences."
Today he gave orders to help the migrants get out of the country.
The Hungarian government will offer to transport thousands of migrants by bus to the Austrian border in the next few hours, Mr Orban's chief of staff Janos Lazar said on Friday.
The buses will be sent to pick up the thousands of migrants at Budapest's main railway terminus and 1,200 who are walking along the main westward motorway towards Austria, he told a news conference.
He said: "This does not automatically mean that they can leave the country. "We are waiting for the Austrian government's response."
The prime minister's hardline stance has received backing from neighbouring nations with Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz saying member states should make their own decisions on the crisis.
Countries have to make sovereign decisions on the level of their exposure as well as engagement
She said: "I think our tackling of the immigration problem has to be reasonable and also countries have to make sovereign decisions on the level of their exposure as well as engagement."
Mr Orban reiterated on Hungarian state radio Friday his determination to stop the refugees.
He said: "Today we are talking about tens of thousands but next year we will be talking about millions and this has no end.
"We have to make it clear that we can't allow everyone in, because if we allow everyone in, Europe is finished.
"If you are rich and attractive to others, you also have to be strong because if not, they will take away what you have worked for and you will be poor, too."
Football fans and immigrants had to be separated by police
More than 140,000 migrants have entered Hungary - within Europe's border-free Schengen zone - so far this year through the EU's external border with Serbia, where Mr Orban's government is building a 3.5 metre high wall.
Many others have entered without registering.
Another 300 refugees fled a migrant centre in Serbia but were eventually caught by police.