A vehicle apparently packed with migrants left a highway in southern Germany at high speed on Friday and crashed as the driver tried to evade a police check, killing seven people and injuring 16, authorities said.

The accident happened near Ampfing, east of Munich on the A94 highway, which leads to the Austrian border. The van left the road and overturned. Police described the van, which had 23 people on board, as “a suspected smuggler vehicle.” They said prosecutors had opened a homicide investigation.