Human smuggler arrested in Hungary after an accident with a car full of migrants

Police have arrested a Moldovan man who crashed a minivan full of illegal migrants near Mátraszőlős last Thursday.

Seven were injured in the accident, the Nográd 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 Mátraszőlős, 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.

As we wrote before, Hungarian police introduce use of body cameras, details HERE.