Latest news with #Yagoda
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Health
- Reuters
Six detained for abuse of patients in Bulgaria nursing home
SOFIA, June 9 (Reuters) - Six people have been arrested in a Bulgarian village on suspicion of beating and drugging patients in a private nursing home for older people and those with dementia or other mental health problems, authorities said on Monday. As elsewhere in Europe, incomes in Bulgaria have failed to keep pace with the rising costs of elderly and nursing care, and a few providers have exploited vulnerable patients with sub-standard or even abusive levels of care. "The scariest thing we saw was people who were subjected to constant physical abuse - tied up, beaten, there is also evidence of drugging," Ivan Krastev, deputy minister of labour and social policy, told Nova TV. On Friday, police raided a hospice with 75 residents in the central village of Yagoda, arresting five people on suspicion of mistreating patients and another on Sunday. They are charged with unlawful imprisonment and obstruction of free movement, failure to provide due assistance to a person in danger, physical violence, and causing bodily harm, district prosecutor Tanya Dimitrova told reporters on Monday. Eleven patients were taken to a nearby state hospital, while the remaining 64 were either taken in by relatives or accommodated in state-run facilities. Bulgarian media reported that some patients had been found with their feet tied, under the influence of narcotics or locked in rooms without proper hygiene, bedding or contact with the outside world. "They lock us up like dogs. They give us two slices of bread and in this heat they don't open the door to let air in, as they're afraid we'll escape," 70-year-old patient Milka Raeva told BTV TV. "They were four very difficult years. God helped me. Many people died hungry, without doctors, with wounds, tied up." Bulgarian media reported that the facility was charging 990 levs ($580) per month per room. Another illegal nursing home in Govedartsi with 23 patients was closed down on Monday. ($1 = 1.7104 leva)
CTV News
7 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
‘They lock us up like dogs': Six detained for abuse of patients in Bulgaria nursing home
SOFIA - Six people have been arrested in a Bulgarian village on suspicion of beating and drugging patients in a private nursing home for older people and those with dementia or other mental health problems, authorities said on Monday. As elsewhere in Europe, incomes in Bulgaria have failed to keep pace with the rising costs of elderly and nursing care, and a few providers have exploited vulnerable patients with sub-standard or even abusive levels of care. 'The scariest thing we saw was people who were subjected to constant physical abuse - tied up, beaten, there is also evidence of drugging,' Ivan Krastev, deputy minister of labor and social policy, told Nova TV. On Friday, police raided a hospice with 75 residents in the central village of Yagoda, arresting five people on suspicion of mistreating patients and another on Sunday. They are charged with unlawful imprisonment and obstruction of free movement, failure to provide due assistance to a person in danger, physical violence, and causing bodily harm, district prosecutor Tanya Dimitrova told reporters on Monday. Eleven patients were taken to a nearby state hospital, while the remaining 64 were either taken in by relatives or accommodated in state-run facilities. Bulgarian media reported that some patients had been found with their feet tied, under the influence of narcotics or locked in rooms without proper hygiene, bedding or contact with the outside world. 'They lock us up like dogs. They give us two slices of bread and in this heat they don't open the door to let air in, as they're afraid we'll escape,' 70-year-old patient Milka Raeva told BTV TV. 'They were four very difficult years. God helped me. Many people died hungry, without doctors, with wounds, tied up.' Bulgarian media reported that the facility was charging 990 levs (US$580) per month per room. Another illegal nursing home in Govedartsi with 23 patients was closed down on Monday. (Reporting by Georgi Slavov; Writing by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Rescuers save 75 people from 'house of horrors' illegal care homes in Bulgaria where residents had feet tied, were sedated and beaten senseless if they tried to leave
Some 75 people have been rescued from two 'house of horrors' illegal care homes in Bulgaria where residents had their feet tied and were sedated and beaten. The facilities, in the village of Yagoda, near city Stara Zagora, were run as so-called health centres for the elderly, offering 'rooms for rent' for around 400 Euros per month. But in reality, they were 'houses of horrors', according to Justice Minister Georgy Georgiev. Bulgarian officials announced the rescue mission today, which saved dozens of residents from being locked in rooms with no bedding and window handles removed. Shocking images show a frail, thin elderly person with their legs tightly tied together with a rag, as they lie on a dirty mattress with one sock missing. Other outrageous pictures feature variously an older person being removed from the facility on a stretcher, and a dirty, dilapidated bathroom. Five people have been arrested and an investigation opened into 'kidnapping, violence and negligence', according to the regional prosecutor's office in Stara Zagora. The office said in a statement: 'According to testimonies, one older woman had not left the establishment for four years. 'Another resident, who tried to flee, was caught, beaten and left unconscious.' The Bulgarian justice ministry added some of those rescued had 'their feet tied and were sedated' and were locked in rooms 'without bedding, the window handles removed and cut off from the outside world'. Minister Georgiev displayed disturbing images showing residents restrained and the facilities' horrific living conditions at a press conference in the region today, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He said some victims were found in critical condition, with 18 taken to hospital by ambulance. Doctors at the hospital in Stara Zagora confirmed to BTA later today all patients admitted had been stabilised, with none in life-threatening condition. All had been treated for dehydration and malnutrition - and some for 'severe heart failure'. Officials had made several attempts in recent weeks to inspect the facilities - but they had been obstructed from doing so, Georgiev added, speaking to reporters. Some residents had been 'kept under the influence of power tranquilisers': 'Blood tests are now being conducted to determine the substances involved.' He described the hygiene in the facilities as 'appalling' - with unqualified staff administering injections and no permanent medical care on site, with doctors only attending if there was a death. Georgiev added residents had no access to their phones or ID , having been told their handsets would be returned if relatives called. The centres, registered as rental properties not licensed health or social care providers, have since been searched, with documents seized, he said. The minister emphasised the government was now undertaking widespread inspections of nursing homes and hospices to stop vulnerable individuals being targeted by property fraud. He said: 'These revelations are linked to ongoing investigations into property mafia schemes involving helpless people. 'The Executive Agency Medical Supervision and the Agency for Quality of Social Services have conducted over 100 inspections, uncovering numerous violations. 'Four licenses have been revoked, one operator voluntarily relinquished their license, and another facility is currently under a license withdrawal procedure. 'Several others have received compliance orders.' The lack of provision for older people in Bulgaria has led to the development of illegal centres in the country. Nine older people died in a fire in November 2021 at a nursing home near the city of Varna. Four others died in a similar incident in May 2022 at another facility in the same area. International organisations often criticise the poor state of health facilities in Bulgaria, the poorest country in the European Union. The Council of Europe's European Committee For The Prevention of Torture (CPT) for instance, spoke out on social care institution and psychiatric hospitals specifically in 2021. It said in a statement: 'For more than 25 years now, the CPT has consistently expressed its deep concern regarding a number of issues concerning the treatment, conditions and legal safeguards offered to patients with psychiatric disorders and residents of social care institutions.' Despite strongly recommending 'decisive action', it added: 'Unfortunately, in the course of the Committee's most recent visits to Bulgaria in 2017, 2020, and 2021, the CPT's delegations have witnessed a continuing lack of such action.'
