An illegal immigrant was killed and another six were injured Thursday after they walked into a mine field while trying to sneak across the northern border into Greece from Turkey, police said. They were the latest casualties along that heavily traveled human smuggling route. The immigrants did not have travel documents and provided authorities with their nationalities, police said. No other details about the men were released. A police statement said the incident occurred in the early morning hours near a well-known immigrant smuggling route along the border. The injured were rescued by an army mine clearing unit and taken to a nearby hospital. All mine fields along the border are clearly designated with illuminated signs in both Greek and English, but police have said immigrant smugglers often tell people trying to sneak across the border that the signs are fake. The injured immigrants were being treated at a hospital in the northern border town of Didimotiho, police said. Last September, seven illegal immigrants were killed after walking into a mine field in the same border region. Dozens of illegal immigrants have been killed or injured in recent years after entering mine fields. Thousands of illegal immigrants from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe sneak into European Union member Greece each year.
