18 migrants found dead in truck in Bulgaria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eighteen migrants reportedly all from Afghanistan were found dead in a truck near the Bulgarian capital Sofia on Friday.

Police found the truck that was carrying about 40 “illegal migrants” on Friday afternoon, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry said in a statement. Some of the survivors have been taken to hospital for medical treatment and a search is underway for the drivers who had fled.

The survivors, who had been concealed under timber in the back of the truck, are in poor condition. "They have suffered from lack of oxygen, their clothes are wet, they are freezing, and obviously haven't eaten for days,'' said Health Minister Asen Medzhidiev, DW reported.

One of the dead is a child aged about six or seven, according to the Bulgarian health ministry.

Four Bulgarians have been detained in connection with the incident, Reuters reported.

Bulgaria lies on the migrant trail from Turkey to Europe and the Bulgarian government is actively working to curb the flow of people crossing its borders, including targeting truck drivers with information campaigns in partnership with the United Kingdom. “The number of illegal migrations apprehended in Bulgaria is increasing year on year. Last year around 11,000 illegal migrants were apprehended, three times more than in 2020,” the Interior Ministry states on its website.

Last month, Bulgarian police charged 92 people after a sweeping investigation in coordination with Turkish and Serbian authorities into migrant smuggling networks.

The majority of migrants using this Balkan route to Europe come from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. In 2015, 71 migrants were found dead in the back of a truck on a motorway in Austria.

Many of the migrants using this route are hoping to reach countries in western Europe like Germany and the UK. In 2021, more than 30 people, mostly Kurds, drowned when their boat sank during the crossing from France to Britain. Two survivors said the British coastguard ignored their calls for help.

18 migrants found dead in truck in Bulgaria

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