Bulgarian border police have detained 44 illegal migrants from Syria and Iraq trying to cross into Romania, bTV reported on Wednesday.
The migrants were discovered hidden in a Bulgarian-registered truck at the border checkpoint at the Ruse-Guirgiu bridge over the Danube around 2 am local time.
According to the cargo manifest, the truck was carrying apples to the Czech Republic. The truck driver is a Czech citizen.
The illegal migrants were trying to reach Austria. Thirty-nine of them were from Syria and five were from Iraq, bTV said.
The group included three children aged 14-16, eight women and 33 men.
Nine illegal migrants from Afghanistan were detained at the same border checkpoint on Tuesday afternoon.