Elhovo

In a thrilling turn of events, border police successfully arrested a driver transporting two illegal migrants following a lengthy chase near Elhovo, a pursuit that ended with a brazen bribery attempt by the detainee.

275 illegal migrants were stopped today at the Bulgarian-Turkish border during a large-scale/specialized police operation.

"We have so far 13 groups. This is from 6:00 a.m. until now," announced Commissioner Ivaylo Tonchev, head of the Border Police Department in Elhovo.

A failed push to move Ukrainian refugees from Black Sea hotels to state-owned complexes is indicative of the chaotic response of Bulgarian authorities to the humanitarian crisis unleashed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, activists say.

Part of the park in Elhovo is flooded by the river Tundzha, said Mayor Petar Kirov. The municipality and the police restricted the access of people and cars to the area. There is no danger to the city's population.

The spill has flooded agricultural and forest lands near Trankovo, Kirilovo, Izgrev and Elhovo. There are no disasters or injured farmers or domestic animals.

The Afghan boy's medical condition has been stabilised after an operation, but his life is still at risk, Jivko Zhelyazkov, deputy director of the University Hospital in the city of Stara Zagora in southern Bulgaria told BIRN on Monday.

"The worst is not expected to happen," Zhelyazkov said.

Bulgarian police have found 17 irregular migrants in an abandoned building near the city of Yambol, in the country's southeast, private Darik radio station reported on Saturday.

The migrants - eight men, three women and six children - claimed they were of Afghan origin. None of them carried identity documents.

Bulgarian police officers detained eighteen illegal migrants in the industrial zone of Yambol in the early hours on Tuesday.

The migrants were detained during a specialised operation when police stopped two cars which appeared to be transporting an unusually large number of passengers.

European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, is to visit the Bulgarian town of Elhovo located close to the border with Turkey on Thursday.

Avramopoulos will inspect the measures applied by Bulgaria in guarding its borders and will assess Bulgarian efforts in managing the migrant flows.

Bulgarian authorities detained hundreds of illegal immigrants and several human smugglers in separate operations across the country.

A total of 115 illegal immigrants were detained in the border town of Svilengrad after they had entered the country from Greece by boats sailing on the Maritsa river.

According to British Prime Minister David Cameron, Bulgaria should serve as an example of the successful guarding of the EU's external borders.

Cameron said this during the second day of his visit to Bulgaria, which started on Thursday with a meeting of his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov and Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev in Sofia.