The death toll from devastating flooding in the Herzegovina-Neretva (HNK) and neighboring Central Bosnian Canton(s) in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has risen to 18, local authorities said.
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Heavy rains and landslides on the night of October 4 caused flooding in the Herzegovina-Neretva canton and, above all, in the municipality of Jablanica. The government of the Croatian-Muslim part of the country – the Federation of BiH – declared a state of natural disaster.
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“According to official data from the civil protection headquarters of the State Tax Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the death toll in flood-affected areas has increased to 15, of which 13 were found in Yablanitsa, two in the municipality of Konjic. Rescuers on Saturday found two more bodies – one in the village of Buturovich Polje near the city Konitz, another in Donja Jablanica,” the authorities of the Herzegovina-Neretva canton indicated on their website.
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In the municipality of Fojnica in the neighboring Srednebosany canton, emergency services reported the death of three local residents.
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On Sunday morning, the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs sent 36 rescuers from the Emergency Sector and 12 vehicles and two excavators from the state enterprise “Waters of Serbia” to combat the consequences of the disaster in BiH. As Minister Ivica Dacic said, official Belgrade is still ready to help with people, special equipment and, if necessary, helicopters.
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It was previously decided that the telecommunications company owned by FBiH – BH Telecom – will allocate 1.5 million convertible marks (about 750 thousand euros) to the affected areas.
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The authorities of BiH sent an army engineering unit to the flood-affected areas for assistance and a MoD helicopter to evacuate the victims, and a request was sent to the EUFOR peacekeeping mission and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for assistance.
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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced his readiness to provide all possible assistance on Friday; President of the Republika Srpska BiH Milorad Dodik announced the allocation of 50 thousand convertible marks (about 25 thousand euros) to each of the affected municipalities. Serbian Patriarch Porfiry ordered the allocation of 100 thousand euros from church funds to help the families of the victims.
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Videos of destroyed houses and roads and the consequences of the disaster were distributed in the media and social networks on Friday. We are talking about a mountainous, relatively inaccessible region of BiH near the largest river Neretva in the Croatian-Muslim part of the country – the Federation of BiH.
