Authorities in northern Greece say a car crammed with migrants that was driven by a suspected member of a smuggling ring has crashed during a police chase, injuring all eight occupants.
Police said the accident occurred early Tuesday at the entry to the northern town of Xanthi. Police had tried to stop the car on a highway running from the Turkish border to the city of Thessaloniki, but the driver turned off onto a smaller road and tried to escape.
The migrants were identified as Pakistani, Afghan, Eritrean and Somalian nationals, while the driver was a Pakistani. All were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The suspected smuggler is believed to have picked up his passengers close to Greece's northeastern land border with Turkey, a major gateway for illegal immigration.
Numbers arriving through that route have increased dramatically in recent months. Police statistics released Tuesday showed a nearly seven-fold increase in arrivals between February and April this year.
According to police figures, 3,986 people were caught illegally crossing the northeastern border in the Evros region in April, compared to 1,658 in March and 586 in February. In April 2017, the number stood at 327 people crossing the Greek-Turkish land border.
