An Armed Forces off-road lorry was involved in a serious road accident in South-Eastern Bulgaria in the afternoon on April 5.
Two foreign nationals died and a total of 21 people were injured, including foreign nationals and military personnel. 10 Afghans have been taken to the state hospital in Bourgas, one of them in a more serious condition.
Two Bulgarian servicemen were also injured, one of them the driver of the lorry. They both have superficial injuries and were taken to the Bourgas University Hospital for a more thorough medical examination.
The accident occurred at 15:10 today on the road from Rezovo to the village of Gramatikovo in the performance of a task of logistical support of the forces and means of the Ministry of Interior on the protection of the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
An army commander who arrived at the hospital said that according to initial data, the crash did not involve another vehicle.
Pre-trial proceedings have been opened in the case by the Military Prosecutor's Office in Sliven.
The two deceased were both illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Colonel Hristo Tinev, military district prosecutor from Sliven, told BNT.
A joint patrol of military personnel and Border Police detected illegal crossing of the Bulgarian border and detained 35 Afghan citizens, according to preliminary information, explained Col. Tinev.
They were then transported in a military ZIL lorry to Malko Tarnovo, near the village of Gramatikovo, where the road is a dirt road, with tracks. The traffic accident occurred during the transportation, the vehicle overturned and two illegal migrants died on the spot.
Urgent investigative actions are currently underway. I cannot commit to an answer as to what the causes were, the prosecutor added.
images by David Suknarov