TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A car crashed into a river on Tuesday in southeastern Albania, killing all eight people inside, including seven suspected migrants and a local driver, police said.
The driver of the vehicle lost control and veered into the Vjosa River about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of the capital, Tirana, around 4 a.m., according to a police statement. Seven of the victims were suspected to be "from third countries,” it said, a description police often use to refer to migrants.
Regional police chief Ardian Cipa said the car failed to stop at a police checkpoint and sped away. A police vehicle then followed the car and saw it had crashed into the river.
“It is suspected the driver is from Shkodra and the others are suspected to be migrants who frequently pass this road,” Cipa said, declining to give more details until the investigation is finished. Shkodra is a northwestern city around 300 kilometers (185 miles) from the accident site.
Police questioned a 26-year-old man who had rented the car.
Albania is not a primary route for migrants but small groups from Arab countries or Asia use it to reach Italy by sea or other neighboring countries by land.
Petrit Cano, a prosecutor in the southern district of Gjirokastra, said the accident was “the consequence of another criminal offense.”
“Criminal elements in this area try continuously to be involved in this illegal activity, that is the transport of persons who illegally cross the state border and then want to continue their trip to the European Union countries,” he said.
In 2019, Albania became the first non-EU member country to have officers of the bloc’s border agency, Frontex, manage its borders in the south and east, which migrants usually cross, and fight cross-border crime.
Albania’s Parliament in February approved a deal for the country to hold thousands of asylum seekers for Italy.
Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
In this photo provided by the Albanian Police and released on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 a view of a damaged vehicle that crashed into the Vjosa River about 150 miles southeast of the capital, Tirana, Albania. Albanian police say a car crashed into a river in the country's southeast, killing all eight people on board, including seven suspected migrants and a local driver. The driver of the vehicle lost control and veered into the Vjosa River about 150 miles southeast of the capital, Tirana, around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, according to a police statement. (Albanian Police via AP)
In this photo provided by the Albanian Police and released on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 a view of a damaged vehicle that crashed into the Vjosa River about 150 miles southeast of the capital, Tirana, Albania. Albanian police say a car crashed into a river in the country's southeast, killing all eight people on board, including seven suspected migrants and a local driver. The driver of the vehicle lost control and veered into the Vjosa River about 150 miles southeast of the capital, Tirana, around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, according to a police statement. (Albanian Police via AP)
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Lisbon inaugurated a memorial Thursday to the 16 people killed in a funicular derailment a year ago, as questions persist about the safety of the city's iconic hillside streetcars, which remain at a standstill.
Near the crash site, a 150-year-old olive tree stood at the center of a ring of limestone blocks laid into the ground featuring the names of the victims. Foreign ambassadors laid wreaths and the Patriarch of Lisbon, a senior Catholic church official, offered a blessing.
The accident was one of the Portuguese capital’s worst tragedies in recent memory and cast a shadow over the city’s ongoing tourism boom.
The picturesque yellow streetcar, called a funicular because it travels up and down a steep hill in tandem with a second car, is a popular tourist attraction. Authorities said that 11 of those killed were foreigners, likely tourists who stand in long lines to board it.
Lisbon attracted about 10 million tourists last year, and they are one of the city’s economic mainstays. Portugal receives around 30 million visitors each year.
Service on the Gloria funicular remains halted while the official investigation proceeds. Two other city funiculars also remain out of service during inspections. The regular streetcars that rumble through the city's streets are running as usual.
The anniversary brought renewed attention to delays in identifying the causes of the crash, which also injured 24 people, and attributing any blame.
Carris, the Portuguese company that runs the city’s road transport, said Wednesday it plans to open an international tender in the first quarter of next year for the affected funicular to be modernized, with the goal of it returning to service by 2029.
Portugal's public prosecutor's office said it hoped to publish a final report by March regarding the accident’s causes and whether there is any criminal liability.
Families of the victims complained in a letter obtained by public broadcaster RTP about “a year of silence” from authorities. They had been kept in the dark about the investigation, receiving no contact from officials, they said, according to RTP.
A preliminary report into the accident published last year said that the failure of a steel safety cable and maintenance flaws contributed to the crash. The streetcar hurtled down the hill before coming off the rails on a bend and smashing into a building, leaving the wooden cabin a crumpled wreck.
FILE - People walk past a parked Bica funicular in Lisbon, out of service after another streetcar derailed and crashed in the Portuguese capital killing multiple people and injuring several others, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)
FILE - People look at a streetcar that derailed and crashed in Lisbon, Portugal, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)
Lisbon patriarch bishop Rui Valério attends the inauguration of a memorial to the 16 people killed in the derailment and crash of Lisbon's Glória funicular, an iconic streetcar, on the first anniversary of the accident, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
People react during the inauguration of a memorial to the 16 people killed in the derailment and crash of Lisbon's Glória funicular, an iconic streetcar, on the first anniversary of the accident, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Religious, military and political officials attend the inauguration of a memorial to the 16 people killed in the derailment and crash of Lisbon's Glória funicular, an iconic streetcar, on the first anniversary of the accident, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
