By the thousands, migrants and refugees began dispersing on Sunday across Germany, the chosen destination of many in the vanguard of a wave that has moved steadily north and westward, transversing a swath of Europe.
The new arrivals - the biggest share from war-wrecked Syria, but with large contingents of Afghans and Eritreans - were greeted by Austrian officials and volunteers as they crossed over from Hungary, where many had encountered harsh treatment at the hands of the authorities.
While many of those arriving in Germany over the past 24 hours made their first stop at Munich, German authorities were working to avoid bottlenecks and to distribute them to other cities and towns.
A chartered train with nearly 600 aboard made an initial stop in the town of Saalfeld and took more than half of those on to Dresden, the Associated Press reported.
Other trains headed for Hamburg in the north and Dortmund in the west.
Those who managed to leave Hungary on a flotilla of more than 100 buses that took them to the Austrian frontier considered themselves lucky.
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