Some Austrians cheered as busloads of migrants pulled up on their border with Hungary early Saturday -- and weary passengers clutching children streamed toward them.

The passengers carried their meager belongings in backpacks as they exited the vehicles in the rain.

They walked on foot over the border to Nickelsdorf, in Austria's Burgenland state, where applause broke out among groups welcoming the convoys of buses with food, Austrian public TV ORF reported.

The Austrian Red Cross also provided medical supplies and warm blankets.

At least 5,500 refugees have arrived in Austria from Hungary since Friday night, the United Nations refugee agency said Saturday afternoon local time. Some 2,500 are still in the border town of Nickelsdorf and are waiting to head to the capital, Vienna, the UNHCR said via Twitter.
Deputy Chief of Burgenland State Police Werner Fasching earlier said about 10,000 migrants were expected in total. There are only enough beds for 600 people in and around Nickelsdorf, and the bulk of the refugees are being sent to Vienna via trains and buses, he said.

"We are trying to move as many as possible in the direction of Vienna," Fasching said. There the migrants will receive food, drink and, if needed, medical care. Some who wish to continue on to Germany will be permitted to do so.

Their arrival in Austria caps an emotional week for the migrants, many of whom had walked for hours before they got into dozens of buses provided by the Hungarian authorities.

In light of the acute situation, Austrian and German officials agreed to allow thousands of migrants into their countries, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said.

The UNHCR said it "welcomes the decision of Austria and Germany to receive thousands of refugees and migrants who crossed the border last night from Hungary. This is political leadership based on humanitarian values."

And it's not just the politicians who have extended a hand. Some individuals in Vienna are donating train tickets for refugees heading onwards across Europe, the UNHCR said, while others elsewhere are giving food and supplies.

UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the refugees she'd met at a Vienna station were enormously grateful for the welcome they'd received since reaching Austria.

Chaotic scenes erupted Thursday as trains packed with Syrian refugees hoping to travel to Austria or ultimately Germany were abruptly halted at Bicske station outside the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

Hungarian authorities wanted to send them to a nearby holding camp, but -- fearing that once there they would be badly treated and unable to continue their journey north -- the migrants refused to get off the train despite suffocating heat and limited food.

After a standoff lasting more than a day, hundreds set off on foot Friday along the train tracks toward the Austrian border, about 100 miles away. Hungary eventually sent buses to pick them.

About 300 more at Bicske station agreed to go to the nearby refugee camp, according to a Hungarian government statement.

Amid the chaos, the U.N. refugee agency said a 50-year-old man had died Friday in Bicske. Initial reports suggest he fell and hit his head on the tracks while trying to run away from police, said Montserrat Feixas Vihe, the UNHCR's Central Europe representative.

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Must be quite a relief.