The Polish Border Guard announced a several hours long operation to save a group of illegal migrants who became stuck in marshes near the Polish-Belarusian border. The four migrants were rescued, but two of them had to be transported to a hospital.

“Yesterday, Border Guard officers from the Michałów and Narewka units carried out a several hours long rescue operation along with Polish firefighters. Four illegal migrants who were Syrian and Iraqi citizens had become stranded in marshes. They were found thanks to a drone which belonged to the Territorial Defense Force. Two persons were transported to a hospital,” the Border Guard wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

The details of the operation were revealed by the Polish Territorial Defense Force (WOT) in an official statement. WOT officers received a signal for aid from the Border Guard during their routine patrol in the area. A few minutes after receiving the distress call, 19 WOT soldiers had arrived on-site and assisted firefighters in rescuing the migrants.

WOT emphasized that due to low temperatures and hypothermia, the rescue operation was a real fight for the lives and health of the migrants.

Three men and one woman who had illegally crossed the Polish-Belarusian border were rescued in the operation. They were given necessary pre-medical aid and later handed over to medical services, who transported them to a nearby hospital. WOT drones played a crucial role in finding the stranded migrants and facilitating their rescue.

Since the start of the year, the Border Guard has recorded almost 40,000 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border. Since Dec. 1, there have been 838 such attempts. In November, 8,900 attempts were recorded; 17,500 in October, 7,700 in September, and 3,500 in August.

A ban on the presence of non-residents in the 183 towns in the border regions has been imposed since Dec. 1, 2021 and will last until March 1, 2022.