The Bulgarian Police found 40 people inside the vehicle, 18 of whom had died of suffocation, locked in a false compartment under a load of wood. Another 12 people have been found outside the truck.
Euskaraz irakurri: 18 pertsona hil dira eta beste 14 egoera kritikoan daude kamioi batean abandonatuta utzi ondoren, Bulgarian
At least 18 immigrants have died of suffocation inside the truck in which they were locked up and which was abandoned about 25 kilometers from Sofiaas reported by sources in the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior.
The Bulgarian Police found 40 people inside the vehicle, 18 of whom had died of suffocation, locked in a dummy compartment under a load of wood. Bulgarian media report that another 12 people have been found alive outside the truck.
According to statements from some of the survivors, the human smugglers simply abandoned the truck for unknown reasons and escaped.
The Emergency Medical Relief Service has indicated to the bTV station that the rest of the occupants of the truck have been transferred to hospitals in Sofia and that 14 of them are in critical condition.
“They have not received food for several days, they suffer from dehydration and have various injuries all over their bodies, I cannot say what caused them,” Bulgarian Health Minister Asen Medzhidiev said after visiting some of the injured. He has also claimed that they were suffering from symptoms of suffocation and hypothermia.
“We assume that the immigrants were transported from the border between Bulgaria and Turkey to the area around the dragoman city to then cross into Serbia,” said a source from the Ministry of the Interior.
The Police have indicated that all migrants are men, between 15 and 25 years oldand what are believed to be afghan citizens.
According to the Nova TV station, it has already been arrested at least one person related to the facts. That source notes that the driver or drivers abandoned the vehicle on a rarely traveled rural road and escaped when they realized that some of the refugees had died.
Authorities are investigating whether the load of wood they were hiding under slipped and crushed the people hiding below.
Source: Eitb
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