Devastating Floods in Bosnia Claim the Lives of 14 People

At least 14 people were killed on Friday in Bosnia due to devastating floods caused by heavy rains and landslides, with expectations that the death toll may rise as relief supplies reach the affected villages.

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Darko Jukan, a spokesman for the government of Jablanica, located about 70 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo, told AFP: “So far, we have found 14 bodies in the Jablanica area, and unfortunately, it is highly likely that this will not be the final toll.”

According to AFP, Bosnia’s federal presidency sent army units to the region to deal with the aftermath of the disaster. In an official statement, the government announced that it had “mobilized engineering and rescue units as well as a helicopter from the Bosnian and Herzegovinian army urgently to assist the civil authorities.”

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The government of the Croat-Muslim component in Bosnia also declared a state of natural disaster in the affected areas.

By Friday afternoon, several civil protection vehicles managed to enter Jablanica, which had been cut off from the world for several hours due to the landslides. Jablanica, the city hardest hit by the disaster, has about 4,000 inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the Bosnian railway administration posted pictures showing tracks damaged and covered with rocks and wood debris swept away by the landslides.

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Several people are still missing, while the injured have been evacuated by a European peacekeeping force (EUFOR) helicopter, according to regional authorities.

In Kiseljak, about 40 kilometers northwest of Sarajevo, water covered homes, cars, and gardens in a matter of minutes. The mayor of Kiseljak, Mladen Mišurić-Ramljak, told AFP: “The rain started falling around 9:00 p.m. on Thursday and continued all night. Everything was normal until about 5:00 a.m., then torrential rains began.”

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He added: “We certainly have hundreds of flooded homes. Such flooding has never happened before.”

Renato Biak, mayor of Kreševo, described the situation as “apocalyptic,” noting that the older residents do not remember seeing such heavy rains in such a short period, turning small streams into rivers.

It is worth noting that Bosnia experienced major floods in 2014, causing damages estimated at around 2 billion euros. In neighboring Croatia, authorities issued warnings for the port of Rijeka in Istria (west) and central parts of the country, cautioning about potential floods and power and water outages in several cities.

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