Train Hits Migrants in Macedonia, Kills Fourteen

A train hit a large group of about 50 migrants near the Macedonian city of Veles on Thursday, killing at least fourteen of them.

Migrants, who enter Macedonia from Greece on their way to western Europe, often use the railway as orientation through the unknown terrain, the Macedonian Information Agency (MIA) reports.

The migrants, who usually travel on foot during the night and hide during the day, had been hit by trains before, but none of the previous incidents had been of the scale of the latest one.

Macedonian police informed that eight migrants were detained after the incident, while dozens fled the scene.

The international train from Thessaloniki to Belgrade hit the migrants, who were mainly from Afghanistan and Somalia, near the Pcinja train station.

People fleeing conflicts and poverty in Africa and the Middle East are increasingly using the land route through the Balkans into western Europe, which is seen safer than crossing the Mediterranean.