In a dramatic bid to avert chaos amid historic snowfall, Slovenian officials have shuttered the border with Hungary to all lorries and heavy goods vehicles. Police are now herding the stranded juggernauts into makeshift car parks, as confirmed by a spokesman for Hungary’s Zala County police. Meanwhile, kids had to be saved at a Serbian-Hungarian border crossing from a burning car.

Slovenian-Hungarian border crossings closed

Portfolio.hu reports that László Gábor, the force’s press officer, revealed the diversions are taking place on Hungarian soil. Private cars, mercifully, are still waving through unscathed. The clampdown, ordered by Slovenia’s interior ministry, kicked in at 8pm yesterday and hits the main two crossings: Tornyiszentmiklós-Pince on the M70 motorway and Rédics.

Extended opening hours at Hungarian border crossing for the holiday rush
Photo: Facebook/Csongrád-Csanád vármegyei rendőrség

Miraculous escape: children plucked from blazing car at Hungarian frontier

A family’s nightmare turned to relief on 5 January when three children were yanked to safety from a German-registered saloon engulfed in flames at the Röszke crossing on the Hungary-Serbia border. The occupants – bearing German and Serbian passports – owed their lives to lightning-quick action by border forces.

Tax and Customs Agency officers, backed by local police and border guards, doused the inferno before disaster management teams could even roll up. No one was hurt in what could have been a tragedy.

Hungary border crossing
Photo: police.hu

Blikk discloses that the blaze erupted in the engine bay, with investigators still probing the cause. Yet a routine check beforehand uncovered three boxes of contraband tobacco stashed in the same compartment. Suspicion now falls on the illicit cargo as a possible trigger. The Turkish driver, caught red-handed, was slapped with a 67,000-forint fine.

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