As crowds of angry migrants and refugees were prevented from boarding trains they hoped would take them on from Hungary toward Western Europe angry scenes erupted outside Budapest’s main train station Tuesday morning, CNN reported on September 1st.
Hundreds of people who had expected to board trains to head on to Austria and Germany instead found Keleti station closed to traffic, with lines of Hungarian police officers barring their way.
Tired, hungry and frustrated, the crowds chanted, “Hungary, no — Germany, yes!”
Police and officials on the ground offered contradictory lines to journalists and migrants, with some saying the station was open while others said trains were delayed by several hours.
It’s the latest crisis point to emerge as a wave of migrants — many refugees fleeing conflict in Syria or Iraq — seek to make their way by land to Western European nations where they hope to claim asylum.
Some have been greeted along their journey by tear gas and stun grenades, while others have found themselves at the mercy of criminal gangs. In other places — including parts of Germany and Greece — there’s been a warmer welcome, with volunteers handing out food and water.
There’s little doubt that such help is sorely needed for those enduring an often arduous journey.
“We have been here five days. No food, no sleep — no place to sleep, no anything,” one Syrian refugee at Keleti station told CNN.

Hundreds of refugees arrive in Germany from Hungary

He and his fellow travelers had train tickets but were not being allowed through, he said.
As the young man spoke, a chant broke out calling for German Chancellor Angela Merkel — who called Monday for “a fair distribution of refugees” among EU countries to help ease the crisis — to come to their aid.
“Merkel, Merkel, Merkel, help us,” the crowd called in English.
Reka Hegedus, a spokeswoman for Keleti train station, later told CNN the station had reopened.
“It was shut this morning with no departures or arrivals for one hour at 9:30 here due to the sheer amount of migrants at the station,” she said.
“The problem is the amount of migrants with the wrong papers. Obviously, even if they have tickets, it is not enough.”
However, only those with proper documentation — that is, a valid passport, a ticket and any necessary visas — were being allowed into the station, with police checking the papers of those seeking to enter.