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Macedonia: 14 refugees killed by train as they followed rail line to EU

MACEDONIAN police said yesterday that 14 refugees from Afghanistan and Somalia were killed by a train as they walked the tracks at night.

The group, which is believed to have been heading north toward the European Union, had been walking along tracks in a narrow gorge near the town of Veles at around 10.30pm on Thursday night when they were hit by an express train heading from the Greek city of Thessaloniki to the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said the victims were believed to have been part of a larger group of about 30-40 people.

Authorities detained eight and the remaining survivors fled.

Desperate refugees using the overland route from Greece to central and western Europe often use railway lines to guide them.

Local media have reported five similar incidents along tracks in Macedonia which left six migrants dead in November and December last year.

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