ПРОГРАМИ
en de ru fr es sr gr al tr ro
Podcast in English
Share
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Police reveal horrific details of migrant deaths near Sofia

Photo: Archive

The secret compartment of the timber truck in which the Afghan migrants died of suffocation was meant for 25-30 people. Out of greed, the traffickers crammed in 52, Borislav Sarafov, director of the National Investigative Service, told a news briefing. 

They transported the migrants from the Turkish border to the border with Serbia. The traffickers were paid between 5,000 and 7,000 euros via the hawala system. The driver took 100 euros per person and the leader - around 1,000 euros per person. 

The 6-member criminal group prepared the hiding places themselves, lined with foil so that body heat would not be detected by X-ray. After Trayanova Vrata mountain pass, the traffickers heard a thumping sound, but did not stop. The victims suffocated for between 30 and 60 minutes. Outside Sofia, the pounding intensified. The drivers stopped. Seeing the suffocating migrants and understanding that there were casualties, they fled.

On Friday police in Bulgaria discovered an abandoned truck containing the bodies of 18 migrants from Afghanista, who appeared to have suffocated to death inside a secret compartment under a load of lumber.

Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.
Radio Bulgaria News    18 Afghanistan dead migrants suffocated traffick

More from category

Swiss Gunvor Group may acquire Lukoil's Burgas-based refinery in package deal with the Russian company

The Russian oil company Lukoil has announced that it has accepted an offer from the Swiss Gunvor Group to acquire the international assets of LUKOIL International GmbH . Lukoil's subsidiary owns all of the group's assets abroad. Lukoil has..

published on 10/30/25 11:40 AM

GERB leader supports resignation of anti-mafia commission chief

MPs elected GERB's Kostadin Angelov as deputy speaker of parliament. 132 MPs voted "for", 53 voted "against" and 11 abstained. Angelov replaces GERB's Raya Nazaryan, who was elected speaker of parliament after previous parliamentary speaker Natalia..

published on 10/30/25 10:30 AM

Integrity officers proposed to fight corruption in state-owned companies

Public enterprises are planning to introduce a corruption risk management system . They will have an integrity officer, amendments to the Public Enterprises Act adopted at first reading provide for. The amendments submitted by GERB-SDS were approved..

published on 10/30/25 9:29 AM

WEATHER
Pick city: Sofía
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 2 | Max: 19
Cloudy
Min: 10 | Max: 21
Cloudy
Min: 12 | Max: 22
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 3 | Max: 20
Partly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 20
Partly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 24
Partly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 23
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 20
Cloudy
Min: 6 | Max: 17
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 1 | Max: 20
Partly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 23
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 21
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 5 | Max: 16
Partly Cloudy
Min: 3 | Max: 19
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 21
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 16
Partly Cloudy
Min: 10 | Max: 20
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 22
Partly Cloudy
Min: 11 | Max: 23
Partly Cloudy
Min: 8 | Max: 19
Partly Cloudy
Min: 2 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 6 | Max: 21
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 5 | Max: 19
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 8 | Max: 21
Cloudy
Min: 7 | Max: 19
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 6 | Max: 21
Cloudy
Min: 5 | Max: 19
BULGARIA IN PICTURES
Which world-famous Bulgarian artist designed QSL cards for Radio Bulgaria?
Yasen Gyuzelev
Theodore Ushev
Christo Javacheff - Christo
Ilia Peikov
Lika Yanko

BULGARIANS ABROAD

Български English Русский Deutsch Српски Français Ελληνικά Español Shqip Türkçe Română
MOST VIEWED

Bulgarian Parliament temporarily bans export of petroleum products

The National Assembly has temporarily banned the export and intra-EU delivery of petroleum products, mainly diesel and aviation fuel. The decision was..

published on 10/31/25 6:12 PM

November begins with warm autumn weather

On Saturday , the lowest temperatures will be between 3 and 8°C; at the Black Sea coast up to 10°C. In Sofia it will be around 3°C...

published on 10/31/25 7:20 PM

Series of violations found after flood in Elenite resort

An inspection has uncovered numerous violations following the recent flood in the Elenite resort complex. No records of environmental approval for the..

published on 10/31/25 3:50 PM

english@bnr.bg

+359 2 9336 661

Общи условия за използване на сайта | Политика за поверителност | Политика за "бисквитки"