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Bulgarian prosecutors have charged six people over the deaths of 18 Afghans who suffocated in a truck abandoned near the capital, Sofia.
The bodies were found inside a vehicle on Friday, in the deadliest incident linked to people-smuggling in Bulgaria as the country struggles with a rise in illicit border crossings.
The truck was transporting 52 Afghans hidden under wooden planks and packed “like in a tin can”. The group had arrived from Turkey and was heading toward western Europe via Serbia, initial investigations showed.
The 18 victims died from suffocation.
Six Bulgarians, including the alleged ringleader of the smuggling group, were charged on Saturday, Hristo Krastev, a spokesperson for the Sofia public prosecutor’s office, told reporters.
They face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and participating in organised crime and people-smuggling.
