Afghan migrant shot dead at EU border

Man was reportedly attempting to enter Bulgaria from Turkey

AN Afghan migrant was shot dead last night trying to cross the border into Bulgaria from Turkey.

The man was gunned down near to the town of Sredets, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry said. He died on his way to hospital.

There were reports that a number of migrants had been shot at by border guards during the incident.

If it is confirmed border guards used live ammunition against migrants it would be the first such incident in the current crisis.

Syrian refugees hoping to cross the Turkish border Getty

A spokesman said: “A big group of illegal migrants attempted to enter Bulgaria from Turkey. One man suffered a gunshot wound in the incident and died on the way to hospital.”

The Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, left an EU summit he was attending in Brussels early following the shooting.

Donald Tusk, the European Council President, confirmed Mr Borissov told him there had been an incident at the country’s border with Turkey.

Bulgarian radio station BNR reported a group of 48 illegal migrants from Afghanistan was armed and aggressive and refused to obey an order by the Bulgarian border guards to stop and turn back.

The man was either wounded by a ricochet when police fired warning shots in the air or he was directly shot at, the radio said.