Hungarian police officers had to resort to gunfire to stop a rogue truck attempting to smuggle thirty illegal immigrants out of the country via its border with Austria, a national police report confirmed.
The incident occurred on Jan. 6 at 1:45pm (CEST) after border officials had initially stopped a Lithuanian-licensed vehicle which they had reason to believe had been acting as a forerunner for a people smuggling vehicle behind.
Police units were called and shortly after sought to stop a van with Hungarian license plates from crossing the border in Harka, western Hungary using conventional police methods. However rather than stopping, the suspect vehicle accelerated, driving at speed towards one Hungarian officer who barely managed to jump out of the way.
Consequently, a fellow patrol officer fired several shots at the van as it proceeded to cross the border into Austria. Despite evading the Hungarian police, the van broken down a few hundred meters into Austrian territory where the driver of Egyptian nationality was apprehended by local police.
Following a search of the vehicle, thirty illegal immigrants of unknown nationality were found.
Police confirmed there were no injuries as a result of the gunfire.
