BUCHAREST, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Romanian border police announced Thursday that they discovered a group of 42 asylum seekers in a tank semitrailer attempting to leave for Hungary illegally.
During a routine border check of the vehicle in western Romania on Wednesday night, the police found the 42 people -- 14 men, ten women and 18 children -- hiding in the tank, according to a statement from the local Oradea Border Police.
Investigations revealed that the whole group, 41 Iraqis and one Moroccan, were seeking asylum in Romania. Some 24 of them are aged between 18 and 52, and another 18 people are minors, including a two-month-old baby.
The migrants are being investigated for illegally attempting to cross the border, while the Romanian driver, 48, is under investigation for complicity in the alleged crime.
Earlier the week, at the western border of Nadlac, a total of 13 asylum seekers from Iraq, including four adults and nine children, were detected by Romanian on Monday night while trying to illegally flee the country with the help of three Iraqi guides.
Romania is a transit country for immigrants from Asia, the Middle East or Turkey, on their route to western European countries.
