Police: 14 migrants killed by train in Macedonia

SKOPJE - The Associated Press

AP Photo

At least 14 migrants believed to be from Afghanistan and Somalia were killed by an express train as they walked along the tracks in central Macedonia at night, police said April 24.

The group had been walking along the tracks in a narrow gorge near the central Macedonian town of Veles at around 10:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) April 23 night when they were hit by an express passenger train heading from the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki to the Serbian capital of Belgrade.
     
Migrants and refugees using the overland route from Greece to central and Western Europe often use the train tracks as a path to guide them along their way and to evade police.
     
Tens of thousands of migrants and refugees attempt to reach the more prosperous central and western European countries by heading from Turkey to nearby Greek islands, then either try to sneak onto Italy-bound ferries, or head overland through Macedonia.
     
Similar incidents have been reported in the past in Macedonia, though none with as high a death count. Local media have reported five similar incidents along train tracks which left six migrants dead in November and December last year.