Police inspect the scene of the car crash in Albania, April 2, 2024 (Picture: Reuters)
Eight people have been killed when the car they were travelling in swerved off a road and plunged into a river.
The incident happened during a police chase in southeastern Albania at around 4am on Tuesday.
The driver of the vehicle lost control and veered into the Vjosa River, about 150 miles southeast of the capital, Tirana.
The driver, who is Albanian, is thought to have been transporting seven asylum seekers from different countries.
All were killed in the crash while trying to escape police, according to a statement from the local force.
Albanian media reported that the driver, from the northern city of Shkodër, was speeding at up to 120mph.
The bodies were recovered from the car (Picture: Reuters)
All passengers and the driver died in the incident
Pictures from the scene show forensic officers recovering the bodies from crash scene.
Albania is not a primary route for asylum seekers. But small groups from several Arab countries or Asia use it to reach Italy by sea or other neighboring countries by land.
Back in 2019, the country became the first non-EU member to have officers of the bloc’s border agency Frontex to manage its borders in the south and east.
This comes as Albania’s Parliament in February approved a deal to hold thousands of asylum seekers for Italy.
It divided opinion on both sides of the Adriatic from the very beginning, but both governments remain adamant about it going ahead.
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