Bulgarian Authorities Rescue 111 Migrants from Drowning in Maritsa River

Bulgarian border police rescued on Wednesday 111 migrants from drowning in the Maritsa river.

This was announced by the deputy chief secretary of the interior ministry Georgi Arabadzhiev.

It has not yet been established whether the migrants are of Syrian or Iraqi origin, daily Sega reports.

A total of 108 people were detained during a large-scale specialised police operation held across the country.

The operation was aimed at uncovering perpetrators of crimes, persons declared wanted as well as counteracting illegal migration.

A total of 4508 people and 2455 vehicles were subject to police checks during the operation, the press service of the interior ministry informs.

The police held checks in the centre of Sofia and other places across the country with large concentration of foreigners from North African and Arab origin.

As regards the death of a woman from the refugee camp in the town of Harmanli, Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova assured that there was no threat to the health of the population as it had been established that the woman died from a non-contagious disease.