43 migrants seized in Bulgaria
A minibus carrying 43 migrants was seized in Bulgaria. Of the 43 people, 10 were children. While 18 people in the minibus were found dead, the condition of the rest is critical.
Bulgarian police detained a minibus carrying 43 immigrants near Ihtiman, BTA reported on Monday. Later on Monday, Sofia District Prosecutor Ntalia Nikolova reported that 10 of the migrants were children.
The news came after 18 migrants were found suffocated in an abandoned truck near the village of Lokorsko in Sofia on Friday. The condition of the other 34 is also serious.
According to Nikolava, the fuel tank of the vehicle seized on Sunday was filled, but the driver had not paid. A patrolling car caught him, and the police found that there were immigrants in the van.
43 immigrants, including 10 children, were seized in the van.
SEVEN PEOPLE GOT ARRESTED
Seven people were detained after the events on Friday. On Monday, the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office will demand the permanent detention of 5 people.
Deputy Attorney General Borislav Safarov said on Friday that the migrants crossed the border using ladders and were loaded into trucks after spending several days in a forest near the town of Yambol.
Most passengers in the truck were men between the ages of 13 and 35, many from Afghanistan. None of them are documented, so authorities learned all they had about them from the 34 survivors' own confessions.
They wanted to be transferred to Serbia, where they would continue to Western Europe. An investigation by the Bulgarian authorities revealed that the migrants paid between 5,000 and 7,000 euros for transport. The head of the group received 500 to 1000 euros per person, and drivers received 100 euros per migrant transported.
(svobodnaevropa)
