Bulgaria Finds 18 Dead Migrants in a Truck

This car was subx0> illegally transporting about 40 migrants who had been hiding under some cargo of wood”, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry said. Nineteen of them have died”

This is one of the deadliest incidents in Bulgaria in terms of trafficking in migrants.

After local residents announced the police, they found the truck in the village of Lockosco, 20km northeast of Bulgaria's capital, Sofia.

The cause of the death of migrants is still unknown.

I can't say for sure what happened. There was a lack of oxygen, cold and damp, and they probably had not eaten food for several days”, Health Minister Asen Medjidiev told reporters.

He added that 14 persons were found alive inside the truck, and eight of them are in serious health condition and have been sent to the hospital.

Meanwhile, ten others were found hiding in the surrounding area and sent to hospital for medical examinations.

According to the public radio, BNR, all migrants in trucks are believed to be men from Afghanistan.

Authorities have started searching to find traffickers who drove this truck.

Bulgaria, a member state of the European Union, serves as the gate for migrants to enter the European bloc. This state has increased security with the aim of facing an increasing number of illegal border crossings.

Bulgaria has a border surrounded by thorn wire, 234km long, separating with Turkey.

According to Bulgaria's official figures, 164,000 illegal border crossings were blocked in 2022 in this country, a much higher number compared to 2021, when 55,000 illegal border crossings were registered. /Rel