Demir Kapija

Police in North Macedonia say they have discovered 148 migrants crammed into trucks in two separate operations in central and northern parts of the country, and have arrested two men on suspicion of trafficking migrants.

North Macedonia police say a 20-year old migrant from Bangladesh was killed and 12 others injured when a van packed with migrants collided with a truck on the main highway in the south.

Police said Saturday that a van with 13 migrants hit the rear of the truck near the town of Demir Kapija late Friday and caught fire.

Fleeing their trouble-torn countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, streams of EU-bound migrants are driving an unexpected trade in a quiet town in Macedonia -- bicycles.
 
Thousands have arrived in Demir Kapija, a few kilometres (miles) from the Greek border, after journeys by foot, train and boat. But in this picturesque town it is bicycles they seek for the next leg.

Prosecutor Marko Zvrlevski says he will soon launch an ex-officio probe, even if the two institutions who he says are primarily in charge of such cases, the Financial Intelligence Agency and the Financial Police, decline to do so.

“We have not received a notice from these two institutions, although legally they should react first, before we do,” Zvrlevski told Faktor news portal.