Two Kurdish men freeze to death en route to Europe
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Two Kurdish men traveling the wintry roads from Turkey to Bulgaria in hopes of reaching Europe froze to death as they were caught in snowy weather for three days, a source close to them confirmed to Rudaw.
Talaat Abdulhamid, 36, and Hardi Ghafour, 29, both from Erbil, had left the Kurdistan Region for Turkey on December 14. After staying in the country for four days, they headed to Bulgaria, a journey that cost them their lives, said Samad Abdulhamid, Talaat’s brother.
“Even though they arrived in Bulgaria on December 21, Hardi died since they had walked through the snow for 48 hours without food and water,” said Samad.
He explained that his brother had not left Hardi’s body behind. “After a few hours Talaat also froze to death as he had sat down by Hardi’s corpse.”
Their bodies were found in the Strandzha mountainous area of southeast Bulgaria. As soon as they were found, their bodies were transported to a hospital in Burgas city.
According to Hardi’s brother, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has followed the case to facilitate the return of the bodies to Erbil.
Nazhat Hussein, a KRG official for migrants’ affairs, told Rudaw that they had been informed of the incident and have begun to make arrangements to repatriate the two men’s bodies.
Since 2014, hundreds of Kurds have died trying to migrate to Europe; the majority drowned in Turkey’s Aegean Sea.
Ari Jalal head of Refugees Federation in the Kurdistan Region explained to Rudaw English that since 2015, 150 refugees from Iraq have died en route to European countries. Of the 220,000 refugees who have left Iraq in this time, 45,000 were from the Kurdistan Region.
Jalal detailed that, as of now the bodies of 90 migrants have been found, 52 remain missing.
Talaat Abdulhamid, 36, and Hardi Ghafour, 29, both from Erbil, had left the Kurdistan Region for Turkey on December 14. After staying in the country for four days, they headed to Bulgaria, a journey that cost them their lives, said Samad Abdulhamid, Talaat’s brother.
“Even though they arrived in Bulgaria on December 21, Hardi died since they had walked through the snow for 48 hours without food and water,” said Samad.
He explained that his brother had not left Hardi’s body behind. “After a few hours Talaat also froze to death as he had sat down by Hardi’s corpse.”
Their bodies were found in the Strandzha mountainous area of southeast Bulgaria. As soon as they were found, their bodies were transported to a hospital in Burgas city.
According to Hardi’s brother, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has followed the case to facilitate the return of the bodies to Erbil.
Nazhat Hussein, a KRG official for migrants’ affairs, told Rudaw that they had been informed of the incident and have begun to make arrangements to repatriate the two men’s bodies.
Since 2014, hundreds of Kurds have died trying to migrate to Europe; the majority drowned in Turkey’s Aegean Sea.
Ari Jalal head of Refugees Federation in the Kurdistan Region explained to Rudaw English that since 2015, 150 refugees from Iraq have died en route to European countries. Of the 220,000 refugees who have left Iraq in this time, 45,000 were from the Kurdistan Region.
Jalal detailed that, as of now the bodies of 90 migrants have been found, 52 remain missing.