Rescue teams sifted through debris in the village of Donja Jablanica, searching for individuals unaccounted for in Bosnia’s worst floods in years that struck the Balkan nation yesterday.
According to N1 TV, 21 lives have been lost, and dozens are still unaccounted for in the Jablanica region, located 70km southwest of Sarajevo.
“There are several villages in the vicinity that remain unreachable, and we are uncertain about what we might discover there,” stated a representative from the Mountain Rescue Service, whose members are participating in the search efforts.
Heavy rainfall overnight paused the search operations, as reported by Bosnian media; however, once the rain subsided, the search continued. In Donja Jablanica, numerous homes were still buried under debris.
The Bosnian Football Association (NFSBIH) has suspended all matches as a result of the floods.
Bosnia’s election commission has decided to delay local elections scheduled for this weekend in the municipalities impacted by the floods, while allowing voting to proceed in unaffected areas.
These floods follow an unprecedented summer drought that caused many rivers and lakes to dry up, significantly impacting agriculture and water supply to urban regions across the Balkans and much of Europe.
Meteorologists have indicated that extreme weather fluctuations can be linked to climate change.
