Bulgaria finds 18 migrants dead in truck

Bulgarian authorities said  they had found 18 migrants dead in an abandoned truck, as the Balkan nation struggles with an increase in illicit border crossings.

The vehicle "was illegally transporting around 40 migrants hidden under some wood", the interior ministry said. "Eighteen of them have died."

It is believed to be one of the deadliest people smuggling incidents recorded in the country.

After locals alerted the police, they found the truck was located near the village of Lokorsko, 20 kilometres northeast of Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

The cause of the migrants' deaths has not been established.

"I can't say for sure what happened. There was a lack of oxygen, they were cold and wet, and they certainly had not eaten for a few days," Health Minister Asen Medjidiev told journalists.

Fourteen people found still alive in the truck, including eight in serious condition, were taken to hospital, he added.

Another ten people were found hiding in nearby shrubbery and will be taken to hospital for examination.

All those in the truck are believed to be men from Afghanistan.

A search was underway for smugglers believed to have driven the truck and fled, authorities said.

EU-member Bulgaria, which serves as a gateway into the bloc, has been trying to tighten security to stop a rising number of people seeking to cross the border.

Border police thwarted 164,000 "irregular crossing" attempts in 2022, compared to 55,000 in 2021, interior ministry figures show.