Officials in Bulgaria reported that at least 18 bodies had been discovered in an abandoned lorry close to Sofia.
The country’s interior ministry claimed in a statement on Friday that the vehicle was carrying refugees and migrants concealed inside a compartment while transporting timber.
34 survivors, including five children, were sent to hospitals in Sofia, said to health minister Asen Medzhidiev, and some were in critical but stable condition.
“Those who were imprisoned in this vehicle were not getting enough oxygen. They hadn’t eaten in days and were chilly and wet, Medzhidiev told reporters.
The truck was discovered abandoned along a highway not far from Sofia, the country’s capital.
Police found the passengers in a covert compartment below a pile of lumber even though the driver was not present.
The nationalities of those discovered were not immediately disclosed by the authorities.
According to the interior ministry, police were looking for the truck’s fugitive drivers.
Bulgaria is located along a path taken by migrants and refugees from Afghanistan and the Middle East to join the European Union.
The majority leave the nation rather than remaining there and seek passage to wealthier nations in Western Europe, frequently via smuggling networks.
Three Bulgarian truck drivers were detained in 2015 and eventually charged with the murders of 71 migrants who were discovered dead next to an Austrian highway.
39 remains were discovered by British police in a refrigerated container that had been transported to England in October 2019. According to police, all of the victims, whose ages ranged from 15 to 44, were from underdeveloped villages in Vietnam. It is thought that they paid people smugglers to take them on a perilous journey to countries where they could live better lives.
According to the police, they overheated in an enclosed space and perished from a lack of oxygen. The vehicle that was found near the town of Grays, east of London, had taken a boat from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to England.
