Four Pakistani migrants killed in Greece as car plunges into ravine

Sources say five others injured in the accident

At least four Pakistani illegal immigrants were killed when their car plunged into a ravine in Kavala, Greece, Express News reported on Sunday.

According to reports, police signalled to stop a taxi, which was carrying the four aspirants who wanted to enter Europe illegally, but the driver sped up and lost control of the vehicle. Police said five others, including the car driver, were injured in the accident.

Sources said two of the deceased belonged to Badshahpur village of Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab while identification of the rest could not be immediately determined. Police said the suspects had entered Greece through its border with Turkey.



The incident comes days after Turkish police rescued 57 Pakistani migrants who had been chained up in an Istanbul basement by people smugglers trying to extort money. The smugglers told the migrants that they would take them to Europe for $10,000, with the money to be paid after they arrived.

The migrants had reportedly hoped to reach Europe via Greece or Italy, giving a code to the smugglers to access the money upon reaching Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants including Syrians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Afghans have entered Europe in recent years. At the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, over a million migrants arrived in Europe by sea, though the numbers have declined since a 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union.