18 bodies recovered from an abandoned truck in Bulgaria

International Desk: The bodies of at least 18 people have been recovered from an abandoned truck in the Balkan state of Bulgaria. Among the recovered bodies was that of a child. In addition, several other people have been rescued alive in this incident. The British media reported this information in a report on Friday (February 17) citing the Bulgarian government.

According to the report, the abandoned vehicle is believed to be transporting around 40 migrants illegally. The rescued survivors were taken to hospital for treatment. The BBC reports that the people in the abandoned truck were cold, wet and had not eaten anything for days, according to Bulgaria's health minister. It is believed to be the deadliest incident involving migrants in Bulgaria. Large numbers of people from Turkey try to enter the European Union. In this work they use Bulgaria as a route. And so Bulgaria has long struggled to effectively stop large numbers of people trying to enter the EU from Turkey.

The truck was found abandoned near the village of Lokorsko, 12 miles (20 km) northeast of Bulgaria's capital Sofia, the BBC says. The Balkan state's interior ministry said the truck was illegally transporting migrants hiding under wood. Bulgaria's health minister Asan Medzhidiv described the conditions inside the truck, saying: 'The people locked in the truck were starved of oxygen. They were frozen in the cold, wet, they hadn't eaten in days.'

14 people were found alive in the truck. Eight of them are in critical condition and were later taken to hospital. Besides, 10 more people were found hiding in the vicinity and they will be taken to the hospital for examination, said Asan Medzhidiv. Police are searching for human traffickers, officials said.

 

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