Eight people died early on Tuesday when a vehicle suspected of carrying migrants veered off the road and plunged into a river in southern Albania, the Albanian Police announced.

The head of the Gjirokastër Prosecutor’s Office, Petrit Çano, said the driver is an Albanian citizen from the northwestern city of Shkodra, while the migrants are from third countries using Albania to reach European Union countries.

“We do not know [which countries] they come from; we are waiting for forensic doctors from Tirana for expertise, and it will take time for identification. After identification, we will cooperate with the respective embassies for the repatriation of the bodies to their countries,” Çano told the media.

The accident occurred around 4:00 a.m. on the Këlcyrë-Përmet road in the south of the country.

Police said the driver of the vehicle, who was carrying seven illegal migrants, lost control of the steering wheel and went off the road, falling into the Vjosa River.

Police said they encountered a speeding vehicle that disregarded officers’ orders to stop and continued towards Përmet.

Officers followed the vehicle to the vicinity of the accident scene, and “when they no longer saw the vehicle they were pursuing, police officers inspected the area and saw signs of a serious accident,” Gjirokastër Police Director Ardian Çipa told the media.

Initially, the police had said that seven illegal migrants along with the driver lost their lives at the scene.

Local police directors, border police, and two groups of National Security Force personnel went to the scene to clarify the circumstances and causes of the accident.

Çipa and Çano said that “criminal elements engaged in this activity” have been continuously observed in the Këlcyrë-Përmet road axis, involving the illegal transportation of migrants aiming to reach the EU.

Albania is part of the Balkan route used by illegal migrants to reach European Union countries.

They enter Albanian territory from Greece and then travel towards Montenegro, attempting to reach the EU.

According to the European Border Agency, Frontex, the year 2023 saw a record increase in irregular entries of migrants into the EU via the Balkan route.

Albania was the first country in the Western Balkans to sign agreements with Frontex in May 2019 for border control. Currently, there are 162 European border guard officers working alongside the Albanian border police.