SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Police in North Macedonia say they have discovered 21 migrants from Pakistan, Iraq and Syria left in the woods after the driver abandoned the vehicle carrying them near the border with Serbia.

Police said in a statement late Friday that a patrol had tried to stop a jeep near the border crossing of Tabanovce, but the driver had run away. Police are still searching for the driver.

Police then searched the area and discovered the migrants hidden in the woods almost 24 hours later. They have been transferred to a migrants' transit center and will be deported to Greece. Officially closed since 2015, the so-called Balkan route is still used by migrants traveling from Greece to wealthier European Union countries.