The trial for the deaths of the 18 migrants who died in a truck near Lokorsko begins in the Sofia City Court. Five people are defendants in the case. The charges against them are participation in an organized criminal group, racketeering and the murder of 18 Afghans.
Viktor Kuzmanov is accused of being an accessory to racketeering and leading the organized criminal group. Hristiyan Dungarov, Atanas Atanasov, Valentin Hristov, Petar Yanev and Tacho Tachev - the owner of the truck - also participated in it. However, the investigation against Tachev was dropped after he died in mid-2023.
The case dates back to February 17, 2023, when 18 migrants were found dead from suffocation in an abandoned truck in the Sofia village of Lokorsko.
Another 34 young men of Afghan origin were found near the truck, dehydrated, wet and freezing. They were admitted to hospitals in the capital.