- Category
- World
Latvia Detains 28 Migrants Who Crossed From Belarus Through Underground Tunnel
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Latvian border guards detained 28 people who attempted to cross illegally from Belarus into Latvia through an underground tunnel, Delfi reported, citing Latvia’s State Border Guard.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
While investigating the circumstances of the illegal border crossing, officers searched the surrounding area and discovered a concealed underground passage approximately 20 meters (66 feet) from the border.
According to the report, the entrance to the tunnel had been carefully camouflaged with moss.
All 28 people detained after crossing the border were returned to Belarus.
Latvia’s State Border Guard said this was the second recorded case in which migrants had used an underground tunnel in an attempt to enter the country illegally.
Similar underground passages have also been discovered along neighboring Lithuania’s border with Belarus. On August 5, Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service reported finding an unfinished four-meter-long tunnel extending from Belarus beneath the border fence near the village of Latežeris in Druskininkai municipality. The passage had been dug at a depth of approximately 1.5 meters.
Lithuanian border guards located the tunnel using specialized equipment provided by their Polish counterparts. The passage had been reinforced with logs and wooden planks, while its entrance on the Belarusian side was concealed with camouflage fabric.
The discoveries come as Lithuania takes broader measures to strengthen its preparedness along the border with Belarus. The country plans to relocate civil defense reserves currently stored near the Belarusian border to more secure locations by 2027, according to Aurimas Guščius, head of the Planning Bureau at the National Crisis Management Center.
Discuss this article:
-457ad7ae19a951ebdca94e9b6bf6309d.png)
