The Police on Sunday said that two Bulgarian nationals suspected of smuggling more than 60 migrants in a van were arrested in Croatia.
Police patrolling the Belgrade-Zagreb highway noticed the overloaded vehicle with British registration plates trailing smoke at the town of Novska.
State TV HRT, citing doctors, reported that 47 migrants required urgent medical attention for carbon monoxide poisoning and hypothermia. At least two passengers were pre-teen children.
After spending hours in the van’s cargo area, several people had lost consciousness.
Croatian police said there were “around 60’’ migrants in the van, while Interior Minister Vlaho Orepic put the number at 67.
The two Bulgarians face charges related to the illegal transport of people.
It is believed the group of Afghan and Pakistani migrants entered Croatia via Serbia and was on their way towards Austria and Germany.
The Interior Minister indicated that the migrants would be returned to Serbia.
Had the police not stopped the vehicle its tires smoking apparently from rubbing the wheel well the lives of the migrants could have been threatened, doctors and officials said.
The incident is a further confirmation that the so-called Balkan migration route is still active nine months after a surge in migrants and refugees pushing to reach Western Europe prompted transit countries to close their borders.
Though the number of people has dropped significantly since 1 million migrants and refugees came to Europe in 2015, people smugglers are still in operation on the route.
The trip remains dangerous in August 2015, 71 migrants suffocated in a lorry illegally transporting them through Austria. Earlier, 14 were killed by a train as they walked along a railway in Macedonia. (dpa/NAN)
