18 bodies of migrants found in abandoned truck in Bulgaria

On Friday, Police discovered an abandoned truck containing the bodies of 18 migrants in Bulgaria. According to officials they might have suffocated to death.

The truck was carrying about 40 migrants and the survivors were taken to nearby hospitals for emergency treatment.

"They have suffered from lack of oxygen, their clothes are wet, they are freezing, and obviously haven’t eaten for days,” officials said.

The truck was found abandoned on a highway and the driver was not there. Later police discovered the passengers in a secret compartment below a load of timber.

Bulgarian media reported they all were from Afghanistan.

Police said they died of a combination of a lack of oxygen and overheating in an enclosed space. The truck had arrived in England on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.