site.btaTwo Migrants Freeze to Death,15 Others Rescued by Bulgarian Border Police

Two Migrants Freeze to Death, 15 Others Rescued by Bulgarian Border Police

Bourgas, on the Black Sea, February 7 (BTA) - Two illegal migrants: a girl apparently aged 16 and a woman aged approximately 30, froze to death near Malko Turnovo in Mt Strandja (Southeastern Bulgaria) before a Bulgarian Border Police patrol found and rescued their 17-person group on Saturday afternoon, the Interior Ministry said in a press release on Sunday.

The snow cover in the area reached 50 cm. Because of the rough mountain terrain and the bad condition of the foreigners, the border policemen had to carry the four adults and eleven children to a patrol tent, where they were given first aid and then taken to a road accessible by off-road vehicles.

The migrants were undocumented and are presumably nationals of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their nationality and how they crossed into Bulgarian territory has yet to be specified.

The survivors have been hospitalized in stable condition and are under medical observation. They have suffered frostbites mainly to the limbs.