Migrants move along the Balkan route
October 31, 2015
Thousands of refugees have continued to move across the so-called Balkan route, most of them intent on reaching Germany and seeking asylum.
The majority of the migrants have come from crisis areas in Africa and the Middle East, taking the risky journey from Turkey across the Balkans towards Western Europe.
Bulgarian authorities announced on Saturday that they had found 129 refugees hidden in a refrigerated truck arriving from Turkey. They included 58 children. The officials did not provide details on the state of their health.
The Turkish national who drove the truck was arrested, according to the Bulgarian interior ministry.
Also on Saturday, a 63-year old Afghan woman died from an apparent heart attack after arriving at a refugee camp in Croatia.
Over 7,500 people entered Germany from Austria on Friday.
Brawl at reception center
About 50 people took part in a confrontation at a center in the German town of Itzehoe on Friday night. There was a fight with chairs and table legs thrown in a refugee center, police said Saturday.
Four of the refugees were treated for head injuries and two of the security guards were slightly hurt, according to the police statement.
The confrontation turned violent during dinner on Friday night, when an Arabic-speaking refugee insulted a group of Kurdish asylum seekers.
The center security tried to stop the altercation using pepper spray, and some 50 police officers, including several canine units, were called at the scene as backup.
The officials arrested two young Kurds and a Syrian national, who were singled out as the main instigators. The three would be transferred to "other centers around the country," according to the police.
There have been several similar incidents reported across Germany during recent months, with the struggling to provide food, accommodation and security for the unprecedented influx of asylum seekers.
dj/jm (AFP, dpa, FENA/Hina)