A car crash in southern Serbia has killed three migrants and injured 11 others, and the driver was detained for suspected people smuggling, police in the Balkan country said on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old Serbian driver had no driver’s license and was among those injured in the crash, according to a police statement.
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The accident occurred late Monday in southern Serbia, near the border with North Macedonia. Both countries lie on the so-called Balkan land route used by migrants trying to reach western Europe.
On Feb. 20, 2024, a car crash in southern Serbia killed three migrants and injured 11 others. Pictured: Police investigators stand next to a crashed car that was carrying migrants in Morahalom, a town on the Hungary-Serbia border, on Dec. 14, 2021. (FERENC DONKA/AFP via Getty Images)
A video on state RTS television showed a smashed white car being taken away from the scene. The report said the vehicle swerved off the road at a high speed.
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The accident illustrates the dangers migrants face on their journeys after fleeing war or poverty in their home countries in the Middle East, Africa or Asia. Migrants usually turn to people smugglers to take them over the borders without authorization.
The Balkan land route leads from Turkey to Greece or Bulgaria, then to North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and then European Union nations Hungary or Croatia.