refugees
Poland’s border guards: four migrants rescued from bog
Migrants on the Belarusian-Polish border in early November. The police are behind the barbed wire fence. Photo: Leonid Shcheglov / BelTA / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
For weeks, thousands of migrants and refugees have been trying by all means to get from Belarus across the EU’s external borders to Poland. Four migrants have now been rescued from a swampy area.
In a rescue operation lasting several hours, Polish border guards, soldiers and firefighters rescued four migrants who had lost their way in a bog in the border area with Belarus.
With the help of an army drone it was possible to find the people in the difficult-to-access area, the border guard announced on Twitter.
In addition, the authority posted the picture of a completely soaked man who rescuers brought out of the swamp on a stretcher. “In view of the low temperatures and the hypothermia of those affected, the rescue operation was a fight for life and death,” said a statement from the army. “A man and a woman had to be taken to the hospital, but their condition is stable, they will be able to leave in a few hours,” said a spokeswoman for the border guard.
According to the aid organization “Ocalenie” (rescue), the migrants had been wandering around in the swampy area near a reservoir in the village of Siemianowka since Monday. On Tuesday they sent the helpers a text message in Arabic. «We are in danger. Please do whatever you can to get to us. If need be, call the police. ” The migrants also made it clear that they wanted to apply for asylum in Poland.
According to the Polish border guards, a group of 40 migrants near the town of Czeremsza tried to cross the border from Belarus on Wednesday night. The officers were thrown with stones.