In Bosnia-Herzegovina, floods kill at least 14 people

The toll could rise as relief supplies reach the affected villages. At least fourteen people died in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday October 4 in floods. Heavy rains in the center of the country over the past 24 hours have caused flooding and large landslides, particularly in Jablanica, about 70 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo.

“So far we have found fourteen bodies in the Jablanica area. Unfortunately there is a good chance that this will not be the final outcome”Darko Jukan, government spokesperson for this region straddling central and southern Bosnia, told Agence France-Presse.

Jablanica, a town of 4,000 inhabitants, located near the artificial lake of the same name, was particularly affected. It has been cut off from the world since Friday morning, landslides preventing any vehicle from approaching. In some photos shared on social networks, we can see the road cut by mounds of mud, and the city almost submerged. “We cannot enter or leave Jablanica at the moment”declared the emergency services in the morning.

In Kiseljak, about twenty kilometers southwest of Sarajevo, several houses, cars and gardens are underwater, journalists from Agence France-Presse noted. According to the Federal Civil Protection Administration, a large part of the population is in danger due to floods and landslides.

Firefighters, police and public services are mobilized, but additional help is needed to control the situation and mitigate the consequences of storms and precipitation, civil protection said this morning. According to the post on X by an official of the Bosnian Croat Muslim entity, Nermin Niksic, “several residents are still stuck in their homes”.

In neighboring Croatia, a red flood alert was issued by authorities around the port of Rijeka, in Istria, and in the center of the country. In a press release, they warned that flooding could be expected in several towns, as well as power and water outages. With global warming, the atmosphere contains more and more water vapor, thus increasing the risk of episodes of heavy precipitation.