Rescuers dug through rubble in the village of Donja Jablanica on Saturday morning in search for people who went missing in Bosnia’s deadliest floods in years that hit the Balkan country on Friday.
The cantonal government official, Darko Juka, told reporters on Saturday that the government concluded 13 people had died in the Jablanica area, 70km southwest of Sarajevo. On Friday Juka had said 16 had been killed.
Earlier on Saturday N1 TV had reported that 21 people died and dozens were missing.
An excavator removed rubble to uncover cars and houses, as rescuers stood by to see if there are any survivors.
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Alka Glusic (74) lost a brother and his three immediate family members. She had stayed in another house with her sister.
“That (brother’s) house is gone now. There is no one there,” Glusic said in tears.
Heavy rain overnight halted the search operation, Bosnian media reported, but as it stopped the search continued. In Donja Jablanica many houses were still under rubble.
Nezima Begovic (62) was not injured but her house was damaged.
“I heard people screaming and suddenly it was all quiet. Then I said everyone is dead there,” she said.
Due to flash flooding on Friday a quarry above Donja Jablanica collapsed and rubble poured over houses and cars in the village.
Enes Imamovic (66) said he was woken by loud noises at about 5am (3am Irish time) on Friday.
“Everything was white [from the stones and dust that came down from the quarry]. My friend’s house was gone. I heard screams,” Imamovic told Reuters.
The Bosnian Football Association postponed all matches due to floods.
Bosnia's election commission decided to postpone local elections this weekend in municipalities affected by floods, but to carry on with voting elsewhere.
The floods follow an unprecedented summer drought which caused many rivers and lakes to dry up, and affected agriculture and the supply of water to urban areas throughout the Balkans and much of Europe.
Meteorologists said extreme weather changes can be attributed to climate change. – Reuters