The police are looking for the fugitive drug dealers; The country has faced an unprecedented influx of people since the 2015 migration crisis
STRINGER / AFP
At least 18 migrants were found dead in a truck about 20 kilometers from the capital Sofia Bulgaria, this Friday 17. “According to initial indications, the vehicle was illegally transporting around 40 migrants hidden under wood,” the interior ministry said. The cause of death is still unknown, but a traffic accident has been ruled out. The police are looking for the fugitive drug dealer. According to the public broadcaster BNR, the victims are Afghans, all young men. The country has faced an unprecedented influx of people since the 2015 migration crisis: local residents alerted police to an abandoned truck near the town of Lokorsko on the outskirts of the capital. 14 of the survivors were hospitalized, eight of them are in serious condition, according to Health Minister Assen Medjidiev. Another ten people hiding in the forest were found. According to the ministry, the police are looking for the fugitive human traffickers.
Bulgaria, the gateway to the European Union (EU), has seen an increase in illegal migration into its territory over the past year, despite the erection of barbed wire fences along more than 230 km of its border with Turkey. Three police officers died in 2022 after their car collided with vehicles carrying migrants. In December, Bulgaria was denied entry into the Schengen area of free movement after waiting ten years for a veto by Austria and the Netherlands. Since then, it has stepped up border controls. This Balkan country has asked the EU for €2 billion (around R$11 billion) to modernize and strengthen its existing barbed wire fences. Pressure from part of the bloc countries seems to be moving towards this solution. Friday’s tragedy brings back memories of the horrific 2019 discovery of 39 Vietnamese dead in a refrigerated truck near London.
*With information from AFP