TIRANA, Albania: A car crashed into a river in southeastern Albania, killing all eight people on board, including seven suspected migrants and a local driver, Albanian police said Tuesday.
The driver of the vehicle lost control and veered into the Vjosa River about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of the capital, Tirana, around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, according to a police statement. Seven of the victims were suspected to be "from third countries," it said, using a description police often use to refer to migrants.
Albania is not a primary route for migrants but small groups from Arab countries or Asia use it to reach Italy by sea or other neighboring countries by land.
In 2019, Albania became the first non-EU member country to have officers of the bloc's border agency Frontex to manage its borders in the south and east, which migrants usually cross, and fight cross-border crime.
Albania's Parliament in February approved a deal for the country to hold thousands of asylum seekers for Italy.