One dead, multiple injuries after people-smugglers settle scores with weapons.Continue reading
Twenty migrants were injured when the smuggler driving the truck carrying them drove into a ditch near Budapest on Sunday, the Pest County Police Headquarters reported on the police website.
The foreigners, who identified themselves as Indian, Afghan, and Pakistani citizens, were taken to the hospital. Five of them were slightly injured, the others had serious injuries, police.hu reported. The 49-year-old driver of the van from Budapest was arrested and a case was opened against him on suspicion of human smuggling.
The police followed and tried to stop a van speeding on Highway 4 in the Üllő area, some 30 kilometers from the Hungarian capital, which wanted to avoid the police. It also hit a police car and finally crashed into a ditch.
The driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle and drifted to the roadside, where he came to a halt. However, when the police officers approached, he accelerated, crashed into one of the service cars, and managed to flee again. The driver was then travelling at high speed on Highway 4 towards Budapest when he lost control of the vehicle again and crashed into a ditch. The driver of the truck was slightly injured.
Illegal migration is at the center of public discussion in Hungary yet again, with hundreds of immigrants trying to cross the Southern border on a daily basis. Last weekend, police officers and soldiers dealt with 1,542 such migrants altogether.
“With the food crisis in Africa, we can expect hundreds of thousands of people to make their way to Hungary and Europe in the coming weeks and months, further increasing migratory pressure,” wrote Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga on her Facebook page.
She added that migration has split the European Union into two and the only way to fight against this trend is to strengthen the border protection so that our 1000 year old culture and values can survive.
According to the Justice Minister, the Hungarian border fence garnered much criticism from the West, yet now many European countries speak highly of it. Judit Varga underscored: “Our goal is simple and clear: to preserve Hungary’s security and its long-standing cultural identity.”
Featured photo: MTI/Mihádák Zoltán