A 27-year-old suspected human trafficker from Macedonian was arrested on Saturday night near Veles after the car he was transporting migrants in overturned.
Macedonian media reports the suspected human trafficker, who was transporting 11 migrants from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, failed to stop for police.
AP reported that the police then gave chase only for the vehicle to crash.
According to a police statement, five migrants were from Pakistan, three from India and three were from Afghanistan. Three migrants were injured and taken to hospital in Veles, police said without giving any further details on the injured passengers.
However, local news outlet Nova Makedonija reported that the three people injured were in a stable condition.
The other migrants, who were believed to have entered the country from Greece, were transferred to a shelter in the southern border town of Gevgelija pending deportation back to Greece, AP reported.
Migration along what is known as Europe’s Balkan route has picked up since travel restrictions imposed under the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted.
In the first 10 months of 2022, there were nearly 17,000 illegal attempts to enter North Macedonia, nearly double the number from the same period a year earlier, according to police.
