Bulgarian border guards saved a migrant father and child from freezing in the region of Dragoman

Border guards rescued a frostbitten migrant father and son. They were found in the morning on December 14 in the area of Dragoman (Western Bulgaria, close to the border with Serbia) . The little boy is 9 years old and was found in a helpless condition. From the photos circulated, the child is seen with bare feet in the snow.

In the morning, at 9.30 am. Junior Inspector Teodor Todorov was carrying out a routine patrol in the Dragoman area. Shortly before the village of Gaber on the side of the road, the border patrol encountered an unusual sight.

"Two persons were spotted. Visibly distressed on the side of the road. One was an older man, visibly with plastic bags on his legs and a barefoot child, without shoes," said Teodor Todorov - Border Police Directorate - the town of Dragoman.

Border police officers immediately provided first aid. The child, who is 9 years old, was freezing because of the low temperatures.

A border policeman who brought clothes and boots from his children to give to the little boy also helped in the rescue of the migrants.

The father and the child were taken by ambulance to Pirogov emergency hospital. Doctors found first-degree frostbite.

"They were in distress and the child was helpless. We were their salvation. The child's legs could have been amputated,” Pavel Popov from the Border Police Directorate in the town of Dragoman explained.

It is being ascertained whether the child and father were abandoned in the area by traffickers.

BNT: How long were they in the open?

Teodor Todorov - Border Police Directorate - Dragoman: "We cannot say, but certainly for a long time. Temperatures in the evening and morning are below zero. It is very cold."

The two migrants have told the authorities that they are Syrian citizens.

Images by BorderPpolice