Moldovan smuggling migrants arrested in Nograd after crashing minivan
Police have arrested a Moldovan man who crashed a minivan full of illegal migrants near Matraszolos last Thursday.
Seven were injured in the accident, the Nograd County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Friday, noting that the man is under investigation for human trafficking and causing a road accident.
In the early hours of Oct 5, the 40-year-old suspect was driving 12 people claiming to be Syrian from the Serbia-Hungary border towards Slovakia. The Polish-registered van had no seats, windows or air vents.
Police spotted the van on highway 21 near Matraszolos, north-east of Budapest, and the man tried to evade them. At a speed of around 180kmh, the vehicle crashed into a barrier and plunged into the roadside drainage ditch. Police caught him after his attempt to flee.
One of the seven injured suffered serious injuries.
