9 injured as Croatian police fire on van carrying migrants at border

Nine people were injured when Croatian police opened fire on a van carrying 29 mainly Afghan and Iraqi migrants that tried to crash through a roadblock after entering the EU from Bosnia, the police said on Thursday. Two children were in serious but stable condition and the others more lightly injured after the crash, which took place overnight near the southeastern town of Zadar, Reuters reported. Police had set up the roadblock to stop the van after it crossed into the country illegally. The driver, believed to be Bosnian, fled the scene. “The driver did not stop after several warnings. He finally passed through a roadblock and drove towards the police,” said Ranko Drazina, the Zadar police chief, adding that “the police reaction was justified.” Thousands of migrants have entered the EU this year through a new route opened by smugglers, running from Greece via Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia to Croatia.