Olympiad Prizes of Bulgarian Students Confiscated at Frankfurt Airport

Bulgarian students who participated in an international Olympiad in mathematics, physics, and informatics in Kazakstan have had their awards confiscated at Frankfurt Airport on suspicions of smuggling.

The students from the Sofia High School of Mathematics participated in an international Olympiad taking place in Almaty on January 13-20 and the team ranked second out of 53 teams from 13 countries, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

The students had to return to Bulgaria earlier due to health issues and a teacher remained in Almaty to wait for the awarding ceremony.

Irina Sharkova, leader of the students' team, explained that the man who had been carrying the seven cameras had not been able to not prove that they were prizes without the medals and the certificates and the airport authorities in Frankfurt had confiscated them.

The students received their medals from the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Bulgaria.

The team of young mathematicians faced another obstacle on their trip to Kazakhstan.

One day before the students headed to Almaty, the Ukrainian airliner which was supposed to take them to Kazakhstan went bankrupt and they were forced to buy new tickets at much higher prices.

In Almaty, the Bulgarian students won one gold medal, five silver medals, and a second place in the final ranking after the Russian team.

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