Migrant smugglers tried to flee from police in two off-road vehicles late on Monday and ran off the road into the woods near Velika Gorica, on the outskirts of Zagreb, as a result of which one driver was killed and several passengers and a police trainee were injured.

Two suspicious off-road vehicles with Austrian and Hungarian number plates were noticed at 11.30 pm on Monday between Okuje and Guci in the Velika Gorcia area near Zagreb. They ignored the signals by the police to pull over, after which the police gave chase.

One of the vehicles, a Mercedes, ran off the road into the woods, while the other vehicle ran straight through the police blockade, hitting two police vehicles, and then also drove into the woods.

According to the police, the driver of one of the vehicles was killed after hitting a police car and skidding off the road into the woods.

Passengers in the vehicles, who were illegal migrants, escaped into the woods, but were later apprehended.

The two vehicles were transporting several illegal migrants. Most of them suffered injuries during the chase and have been taken to Zagreb hospitals for medical treatment.