A migrant woman was accidentally shot and killed by police in North Macedonia during a struggle that broke out Wednesday as an officer tried to arrest a suspected smuggler, authorities said.

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The fatal shooting occurred during an inspection of two vehicles outside the town of Gevgelija, close to the country’s southern border with Greece.

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A North Macedonian police officer accidentally shot and killed a migrant woman during a confrontation with a suspected smuggler. (Fox News)

Police said the shot was fired after the migrant smuggling suspect, identified only as a 26-year-old man, tried to snatch the officer’s handgun during the roadside inspection. The victim of the shooting died of chest wounds in a nearby hospital, medical officials said.

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A second smuggling suspect was arrested and seven other migrants were detained. Their nationalities were not immediately known.

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Migration along the so-called Balkan route, from Turkey to Greece and then on to North Macedonia and further northward toward western Europe, has picked up since travel restrictions imposed under the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted.