Nova Gorica - Tolmin police tried to pull over a van and a car with Hungarian licence plates on Friday morning in the municipality of Tolmin, west, which turned into a chase, with the van driver and a passenger fleeing and are still being searched for.

Police signalled the two vehicles with lights and siren to pull over, but the vehicles continued driving, the Nova Gorica Police Department said on Monday.

The car then deliberately drove onto the left-hand side of the road to prevent the police vehicle from overtaking the two vehicles.

The van kept ignoring the police, driving on to the next town and pulling over with the driver and passenger fleeing into the near-by woods.

Twenty-five illegal migrants, from Pakistan and Bangladesh, came out of the van, having unlawfully entered Slovenia from Hungary.

Since they expressed a wish to get international protection in Slovenia, they were taken to the Ljubljana asylum centre.

Police seized both vehicles, and took the two Lithuanian citizens from the car before an investigating magistrate, who remanded then in custody on Sunday.

The 42-year-old driver and the 22-year-old passenger are accused of committing crimes related to unlawful crossing of the border and transporting illegal migrants from Romania en route to Italy. The driver is also accused of having prevented the police from inspecting the van.