Seven die as van carrying migrants crashes in southern Hungary

The van was fleeing police when it crashed shortly before midnight in the town on the Hungary-Serbia border, spokeswoman Szilvia Szabo said. The driver, who also sustained injuries, was arrested, she said.

In an interview to public television after the incident, Gyorgy Bakondi, the prime minister’s domestic security advisor, said it was a mounting problem that groups of illegal migrants were ignoring warnings given by the authorities.

Bakondi said migrant groups were become increasingly aggressive with the authorities and on occasion damaged their equipment.

Bakondi noted that the driver had not stopped when called on to do so by law enforcement at Morahalom, and he lost control of the vehicle at high speed, hitting a wall and overturning.

He said the incident served as a warning of the serious consequences of illegal migration. He added that it was important to stop migration at the European Union’s external borders and support countries that are the source of migration.