18 Afghans found dead in abandoned truck in Bulgaria

ATLANTA (Pajhwok): At least 18 Afghan migrants have been found dead in an abandoned truck near the capital of Bulgaria, says a media report.

The truck was transporting timber and carrying illegal migrants hidden in compartments, the interior ministry in Sofia, said, adding the vehicle was found near Lokorsko village.

Some of the migrants suffocated, the head of the National Investigative Service, Borislav Sarafov, told reporters.

The migrants crossed the border with Turkey illegally and hid in the woods for two days before they were loaded onto the truck near the city of Yambol in southeastern Bulgaria, he said.

Thirty four migrants, including five children, were rushed to hospitals in Sofia and some were in critical, but stable, condition, Health Minister Asen Medzhidiev said.

In 2015, three Bulgarian truck drivers were arrested and later charged with the deaths of 71 migrants found dead beside an Austrian motorway.

In December, Bulgaria was blocked from entering the EU's passport-free Schengen zone by Austria and the Netherlands over security and rule-of-law concerns, but the country will seek to gain entry again this year.

sa/mud