Seven people, including a child, have died after a crowded minivan driven by a suspected people-smuggler overturned in southern Germany, police say.

Twenty-three people were in the van, which is designed to fit nine.

The driver attempted to evade police at a road check before losing control near Ampfing in Bavaria, authorities say.

The accident happened amid a rise in people-smuggling which has led several Central and Eastern European countries to impose border checks.

Police say they tried to intercept the Mercedes Vito van at around 03:00 (01:00 GMT) on Friday.

The driver of the vehicle, which had an Austrian licence plate, accelerated to 180km/h (112mph) before rolling over several times at a junction on the A94 motorway, between the Austrian border and Munich. The driver has been arrested.

Police said the vehicle’s overcrowding contributed to the high death toll. A six-year-old child was among the dead.

There have been a number of crashes involving people-smugglers in European countries in recent weeks.

A car with French licence plates thought to be smuggling migrants overturned in Hungary on Thursday, leaving two dead and six injured.

Last week, a vehicle crashed in the town of Burghausen, on the German-Austrian border, about 50km from the site of Friday’s accident, injuring four people.

Several EU countries, including Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic, have reimposed border checks in recent weeks as a result of an increase in smuggling incidents.

Polish authorities say the heightened checks have succeeded in reducing the number of migrant crossings.

The A94 motorway In south-eastern Germany is considered a regular route for people-smugglers crossing the border from Austria.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the tragic crash highlighted the need to strengthen border controls to stop smugglers from entering Germany.

First-time asylum requests in Germany rose by 78% in the first seven months of 2023. Police say the passage of about a quarter of migrants into Germany is facilitated by smugglers. (BBC)

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