Șase migranți au murit în Bulgaria într-o mașină condusă de un român. Foto: Captură Facebook
Six migrants died and four people were injured after their car crashed and plunged into a lake during a high-speed police chase near the Black Sea city of Burgas, Bulgaria’s BTA news agency reported on Friday.
The car, a Skoda registered in Romania, was carrying 10 people when it failed to stop for a check and sought to evade capture on Thursday night, Border Police Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov told broadcaster bTV.
The high-speed chase lasted about half an hour with the car speeding more than 150 kilometers an hour according to Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, Director of the Border Police, Novinite reported.
The six died at the scene while the Romanian driver and three surviving migrants received first aid. The survivors were thought to be from Afghanistan, BTA reported.
Balkan countries have become major transit routes for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Asia and Africa fleeing wars and poverty to the European Union. Many use smuggling networks to help them.
Romania and Bulgaria are members of Schengen meaning there are no passport controls within the country for travelers arriving from other Schengen countries.
The pursuit began near the coastal town of Kiten when a patrol unit from the Border Police flagged down the car, which had Romanian registration plates. But the driver accelerated, attempting to evade capture by taking an internal route through three villages. Police vehicles continued the chase along local roads leading toward Burgas.
As the vehicle approached the city’s outskirts, it collided with another car, forcing it off the road before speeding onto a main boulevard. Police had already set up a roadblock near a bridge to stop the fleeing car. But the driver lost control on the wet and slippery road surface, and the vehicle overturned, plunging into Lake Vaya.
Emergency teams, including police, firefighters, and rescue divers, were dispatched immediately. Six of the nine migrants were pronounced dead at the scene, while the three survivors were taken to the hospital under police guard.
The Romanian driver sustained minor injuries and has been detained for questioning.
