North Macedonia: Migrants hurt after driver jumps from truck

Police in North Macedonia say 34 Afghan migrants have been injured in a highway accident after the driver of a truck allegedly carrying them north toward Serbia jumped from the running vehicle while trying to escape a police patrol.

Police said Saturday that three of the passengers and the truck’s 24-year-old Macedonian driver sustained serious injuries.

They say that after the driver jumped from the truck on the main highway in central North Macedonia, the vehicle continued moving and then overturned into a 14-meters-deep (46-feet-deep) gorge.

Children were among the injured, who were transported to nearby hospitals.

Officially closed since 2015, the so-called Balkan route is still travelled by migrants from Greece to wealthier European countries.