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Among the 18 people who died from asphyxiation was a 7-year-old boy, according to reports.
Bulgarian Interior Ministry sources reported Friday the finding of at least 18 dead migrants in an abandoned truck on the outskirts of the Lokorsko town, about 20 kilometers from the capital Sofia.
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According to police authorities, 40 irregular migrants, all of them men between 15 and 25 years old of Afghan nationality, were inside the vehicle. They were locked in a false compartment under a load of wood.
Among the 18 reported dead from asphyxiation was a 7-year-old boy. Twelve were found alive outside the truck. According to some of the survivors, the human traffickers abandoned the truck and escaped.
The rest of the people in the truck were taken to hospitals in the Bulgarian capital, the Emergency Medical Aid Service reported, noting that 14 of them are in critical condition.
The death of 18 Afghan migrants in a truck in Bulgaria
— khalilminawi (@khminawi) February 17, 2023
Bulgarian authorities announced on Friday that the country's police have discovered the bodies of 18 Afghan migrants, including a child, in an abandoned truck near the country's capital, Sofia. pic.twitter.com/8qmoRV7HSd
Bulgarian Health Minister Asen Medzhidiev visited some of the injured, who showed symptoms of asphyxia and hypothermia, he said. "They have not been fed for several days, are suffering from dehydration and have several wounds all over their bodies," the Minister added.
Investigations are underway to determine if the load of wood they were hiding under slipped and crushed the people hiding underneath.
According to the country's police, 164 000 people were prevented from entering the national territory in 2022, while in the previous year the figure was 55 000. Migrants use Bulgaria, Türkiye and Serbia as a gateway to rich EU countries.
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