(ANSA-AFP) - ZAGREB, OCT 5 - An overloaded van carrying
migrants crashed Saturday in central Croatia, killing two people
and injuring several others, police said. Officers spotted a
"visibly overloaded van" with German numberplates in the small
city of Novska and tailed it "without using audible or visual
signals", a police statement said. After noticing the police,
the driver accelerated and veered off the road. The van
overturned, crashing into a house. The driver and a passenger
died. Local media reports said around 25 people were injured,
with nine in serious condition. Police did not provide details
about the identities of the migrants, but local media reports
said they included citizens of Turkey and several countries in
the Middle East. The incident comes almost a month after another
van carrying migrants crashed in eastern Croatia, injuring 14.
European Union-member Croatia has long been a major transit
country for illegal migrants travelling on the so-called Balkan
route hoping to enter Europe, with most passing through
neighboring Bosnia. According to the bloc's border agency
Frontex, nearly 100,000 Europe-bound migrants fleeing war or
poverty took the Balkan route last year to enter the EU.
(ANSA-AFP).
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