Officers from the Border Guard outpost in Janów Podlaski and soldiers from the Territorial Defense Force found the remains near the village of Stary Bubel, in the Lublin region.
According to local police spokesperson Katarzyna Gągolińska, the corpses were severely decomposed. A prosecutor has ordered an autopsy, and investigators are working to confirm the men’s identities and the cause of death.
Border Guard captain Dariusz Sienicki said the deceased might have been among a larger group who attempted to enter Poland some time ago.
“We received information back then that some individuals could have drowned,” he told reporters. Authorities conducted a two-day search operation using boats, divers, and sonar, but they found no one at that time.
Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk confirmed during an interview on state television that the bodies likely belonged to migrants pushed into the water by Belarusian authorities in mid-March.
“A group of about a dozen people were forced into the water. Polish border guards managed to rescue some of them,” he said.
“Others apparently did not know how to swim and likely drowned on the Belarusian side, with their bodies surfacing on ours.”
Further casualties reported
In a separate incident on April 5, a Border Guard patrol from Janów Podlaski found the body of another man in the Bug River. Firefighters recovered the remains, which have undergone an autopsy. Authorities continue to investigate his identity.
(jh)
Source: PAP