KABUL (SW) – Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said the bodies f 17 Afghan refugees who died in Bulgaria have been identified and investigations are underway to identify the rest.
Mr. Balkhi added in a tweet that in connection with the transfer of the bodies of 18 Afghan refugees from Bulgaria, the Afghan embassy in that country has been directed to transfer them after the completion of the forensic investigations.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the ministry provides the ground for the transfer of the bodies by using all the available facilities, and a special flight has been planned to facilitate their transfer.
Following the death of 18 Afghan refugees in a truck in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expressed its condolences to the families of the victims of this event.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in a statement that Afghan citizens who were stuck in a closed vehicle on the ring road of Sofia for three days died due to hunger, thirst and lack of oxygen, and a number of others were sent to the hospital and their health condition is satisfactory.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested all Afghan citizens not to risk their lives by choosing illegal and smuggling routes of migration.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also asked all international organizations, especially the host country (Bulgaria), to arrest human traffickers, who always cause the death of human beings, and hand them over to the law.
According to Bulgarian media reports, the bodies of 18 Afghan refugees were discovered by the Bulgarian police in a truck on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of this country, on Friday. Bulgarian police said that these people wanted to travel to Serbia illegally.
According to the Bulgarian police, a local resident informed them about the stop of an abandoned truck 20 kilometers from the Lokorsko area, located on the outskirts of Sofia. Police said that at least 52 people were illegally hiding under the logs being transported by this truck.
It has been said that these people had suffocated for 12 hours before they were found due to limited breathing space. According to reports, these people had not eaten any food for several days. Among the victims, there is also a six- or seven-year-old child. According to statistics, this event is the deadliest migration event in the history of Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is the route used by asylum seekers from the Middle East and Afghanistan to enter Western Europe.
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