Syrians who died in truck in Austria sought new life - relative

German police checks heavy trucks on the highway A3 from Austria to Germany at the parking in Rottal Ost near Passau, southern Germany September 14, 2015. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

QAMISHLI, Syria (Reuters) - Three Syrian refugees, who were among 71 people found dead last month in the back of a truck in Austria, had dreamed of a better life in Germany with a smuggler having promised to get them there by car, a relative of two of the men said.

In one of the most tragic events of a refugee crisis that has swept Europe, Austrian authorities discovered the refugees on Aug. 27 in an abandoned refrigeration lorry near the Hungarian border. They appeared to have suffocated after being crammed in five to a square metre (10 sq ft).