Jeep smuggling asylum-seekers crashes in Greece killing six people, including three children

  • Four more severely injured in highway crash containing jeep of asylum-seekers
  • Cause of the crash unclear as the overcrowded vehicle was not being chased
  • The car was carrying 16 men, women and children when it hit rocks in Kavala

An early morning crash in the coastal town of Kavala, Greece has killed six people including three children. 

The jeep was packed with asylum-seekers containing 16 men, women and children believed to be from Iraq and Syria when it hit rocks along the highway.

The cause of the crash is unknown as the car was not being chased at the time.

A crash in the coastal town of Kavala (file picture) has killed six asylum-seekers including three children.

Four more adults were severely injured in the crash that was smuggling asylum-seekers possibly bound for Thessaloniki. 

The driver, a member of a migrant-smuggling gang paid to ferry the asylum-seekers, was among the dead. Authorities said the migrants were Syrian and Iraqi nationals.

There of the survivors were in hospital with severe head injuries, another was being operated on for bone fractures, while the remaining six were more lightly injured.

Police said the cause of the crash was unclear, but the vehicle was not being pursued by patrol cars at the time of the accident. 

Authorities were notified by motorists who saw the wrecked jeep by the roadside. 

Police said the vehicle had come from the Evros region, on the border with Turkey, which is a major crossing point for Middle Eastern, Asian and African migrants and refugees seeking a better life in Europe.

Accidents are frequent, as smuggling gangs try to drive asylum-seekers in desperately overcrowded vehicles as quickly as possible.

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