Bulgaria charges six suspects with human trafficking after 18 migrants found dead inside truck

Prosecutors in Bulgaria have charged six people for human trafficking after 18 migrants were found dead inside a truck near its capital Sofia 

Authorities in Bulgaria have said that six suspects were charged with human trafficking after 18 migrants from Afghanistan were discovered inside a truck.  

The bodies of the migrants are reported to have been dumped inside the truck before it was abandoned on a dirt road close to the Bulgarian capital Sofia.  

A statement by the prosecutor cited by Reuters said that the truck was found near the village of Lokorsko “after the driver and his companion found that many of the 52 migrants in the hidden compartments of the truck, which were isolated with foil, were dizzy and some had already died.”.  

The prosecutor also said that the truck driver and his companion were also charged with the death of the migrants.  

Borislav Sarafov, head of the National Investigative Service and deputy chief prosecutor said that the migrants kept banging at the truck driver’s cabin, but he refused to stop.  

Sarafov stated, “18 victims died of a combination of lack of oxygen in an enclosed space and difficulty breathing as they had been crammed into the truck like in a tin can”.  

“The victims died slowly and painfully,” he added. 

He continued “This case shows an extreme callousness and demonstrates that migrants are seen only as goods that should be shipped from one place to another, irrespective of whether they are alive or dead”. 

The deaths of migrants has created shockwaves across Bulgaria as the country is trying to cope with the increase in the number of migrants entering the country while trying to run away from war and poverty.

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