Bulgarian police found a truck with the bodies of 18 migrants in the village of Lokorsko near Sofia. Another 34 people survived, they were hiding in the forest, according to the Bulgarian agency BTA, citing Deputy Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov.
The investigation found that the migrants crossed the border, spent several days in the forest outside the city of Yambol, then they were loaded onto a truck. 18 of them suffocated, 34 people survived, five of them were children. These are citizens of Afghanistan, they are receiving medical assistance, he said.
In my country blocked
present tense
The police detained four suspects. Searches are being carried out at their place of residence. One of them is believed to be the driver. All detainees are arrested for 24 hours. They have not yet been charged.
“I can’t say exactly what happened. There was not enough oxygen, they were cold, they got wet and didn’t eat for several days,” said Bulgarian Health Minister Asen Medzhidiev.
Authorities are working to determine the exact cause of death for 18 people and the route the truck took. An investigation has begun.
In October 2019, in the English county of Essex, police found a truck with 39 bodies inside. 31 men and eight women died, including minors. All of them were Vietnamese citizens. The brother of one of the dead girls told the BBC that she paid smugglers $38,000 to bring her to the UK.
The refrigerator, in which the dead were located, was delivered to Essex by ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The truck was reported to have arrived from Bulgaria. 25-year-old Mo Robinson from Northern Ireland, who appeared before the court, pleaded guilty to organizing an illegal immigration channel to the UK.
