Train kills 14 migrants in Macedonia

The accident happened at 10:30 p.m. local time (20:30 UTC) on Thursday, when an international train from the southern Macedonian border town of Gevgelija to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, ploughed into the group of migrants, in a gorge at Pcinja, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the capital Skopje.

"The driver saw a large group, dozens of people. He took action to stop the train, also used the siren, at which point some people left the track. However, the train was unable to stop before hitting and running over some of them," the prosecutor said in a statement.

Rescue efforts were hampered by difficult terrain, with the site of the accident accessible only by foot or railway.

According to the local media, there may have been at least 50 migrants from Afghanistan and Somalia in the group, who walked through a canyon along an increasingly well-trodden Balkan route for migrants, with the hope of entering the European Union.

jil/kms (Reuters, dpa, MIA)