Austria lets migrants keep streaming in at record rate

(Reuters) - As Germany announced it was re-imposing border controls in a bid to slow an influx of migrants, Austria, through which tens of thousands have passed on their way to Germany, was expecting a record number of arrivals on Sunday. More than a week after the two countries threw open their borders to the migrants, Germany said it was reversing course as a temporary measure. Austria's chancellor, however, was quoted as saying that his country would not immediately follow suit. While those announcements were made, people continued to pour into Austria from Hungary. The police said 8,400 had arrived on Sunday by the early evening, and the day was set to be the busiest at the border since the wave began last weekend. "The flow of refugees remains very high, the spokesman said. "I don't think I would be wrong in saying that we might exceed the threshold of 10,000 if it continues like this." In the initial rush of arrivals last weekend, 16,000 to 17,000 people -- many of them fleeing war or poverty in the Middle East and Africa -- had crossed the border with Hungary in two days, the spokesman said. About 7,000 arrived this Saturday. The authorities said recently that they were preparing for a sharp increase in the number of arrivals. The country's director general for public security, Konrad Kogler, told ORF radio that Austria had set up accommodation for 10,000 people. But the number of people crossing the border, combined with the introduction of controls by Germany, raised the question of how long Austria could continue to let migrants stream onto its territory unfettered. The rail link with Hungary has been suspended since Thursday because Austria was struggling to cope with the flow of people across its territory, and the police spokesman said trains were no longer running to Vienna from the border on Sunday evening. Austrian news agency APA quoted Chancellor Werner Faymann as saying that Vienna would not introduce additional border controls for now but the effect of Germany's decision on Austria was hard to predict. "We cannot foresee what the backlog will look like," Faymann, a Social Democrat, was quoted as saying by APA. The vice chancellor, Reinhold Mitterlehner, leader of the conservative Austrian People's Party, took a more hawkish view. "Increased controls are necessary in Austria, especially in those regions that are the most affected by migrant flows," he said in a statement. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Greg Mahlich)