WORLD NEWS | North Macedonia: 3 migrants and suspected smugglers injured

SKOPJE (North Macedonia), March 12 (AP) — Three migrants and a suspected smuggler were seriously injured when a car that police were pursuing early Sunday in North Macedonia overturned, authorities said.

Police said the car was carrying 11 migrants, five from Pakistan, three from India and three from Afghanistan, when it overturned on a highway near the town of Veles. After the car failed to stop at the police signal, officers gave chase, according to a police statement.

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Police identified the suspected smuggler as a 27-year-old Macedonian national. He and three of the passengers were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and the Macedonian man was arrested, the statement said.

Other migrants, believed to have entered the country from Greece, were moved to a shelter in the southern border town of Gevgelia to await deportation back to Greece.

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Migration along the so-called European Balkan route has increased since travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted.

According to police, there were nearly 17,000 illegal attempts to enter North Macedonia in the first 10 months of 2022, almost double the number during the same period last year. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)