A 24-year-old man from Moldova, who was transporting migrants, was stopped by the police with gunfire after being pursued for 18 kilometers on the Deva-Nădlac highway, until the entrance to Timișoara.
In his car there were nine passengers, three of whom fled after an accident, while the other six were found to be of Afro-Asian origin and had legally entered Romania.
These days Romania is trying to persuade Austria to accept the country in the Schengen area with its land borders.
Everything happened late Saturday night, towards midnight.
At the road junction at km 503, the police signaled a car to stop, but the driver did not comply.
So the police started pursuing him over a distance of 18 km, between Giarmata and Remetea, until the entrance to Timișoara City.
During the pursuit, the police fired nine warning shots.
"At the roundabout near Timișoara airport, the car collided with two others, after which it stopped outside the roadway, initially resulting in only material damage. The car was immobilized and the driver, a 24-year-old man with dual Romanian/Moldovan citizenship, and six foreign nationals were identified," the Timiș County Police Inspectorate informed.
The seven individuals caught, the Moldovan citizen, and the six passengers of Afro-Asian origin - one from Egypt, four from Syria, and one from Yemen, were handed over to the Timișoara Territorial Inspectorate of the Border Police.
The driver is being investigated for migrant trafficking.
One of the passengers, due to the shock, was taken to the hospital, so the Timiș Traffic Office drew up a criminal file for bodily harm through negligence.
Furthermore, the car did not have a valid insurance policy, the driver was fined 4,640 lei, the license plates were retained, the registration certificate was seized, and the driver's license was suspended for 180 days.