In the catastrophic floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina, at least 18 people died, while dozens of them are missing. The most difficult situation is in the municipalities of Jablanica, Konjic, Kiseljak, Fojnica, Kreševo, Drvar. With the withdrawal of part of the water and the removal of the first layer of accumulated material, mud and stones, the scale of the disaster has been revealed since this morning.
Numerous landslides were activated, which left havoc and caused immeasurable damage.
In the Herzegovina-Neretva canton, at least 15 people died, 13 of them in Jablanica, and two in Buturević Polje, in the area of Konjic, the HNK Government stated.
“According to official data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, the number of people who died in the flood-affected area of HNK increased to 15 dead as of today. The rescuers, searching the fields of Konjic and Jablanica, found two more lifeless bodies, one in Buturović Polje , the second in the area of Donja Jablanica,” announced the Government of HNK.
The head of the municipality of Jablanica, Damir Šabanović, said that no inhabited place in that municipality was cut off after the floods and landslides.
“A large number of machines are engaged in breaking through and cleaning roads in all directions, but traffic is opened as a priority for rescue services. From the Operation Center of Civil Protection Jablanica, they reported that a total of 67 people requested medical help at the Jablanica Health Center, of which four referred for further treatment”, said Šabanović, announced the Government of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.
Teams of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entity and cantonal civil protection, mountain rescue service and numerous volunteers are trying to remove the consequences of the disaster in the shortest possible time with the use of heavy machinery.
Locals of Donja Jablanica who lost neighbors, relatives and property are visiting the destroyed settlement today in the hope that one of the missing will be found alive.
Volunteers from various parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina arrived in Jablanica to deliver aid to vulnerable citizens, but also to help the services in cleaning this place.
Civil protection teams, the Armed Forces and other services have been on the ground since seven o’clock this morning and are working to find the missing and unearth the ruins under which people are suspected.
Members of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) have arrived in Jablanica and are delivering the necessary items to the local health center, and engagement is expected in other locations as well.”
Numerous actions were organized to collect aid for the population in flood-affected areas.
The association Pomozi.ba has so far collected more than two million BAM. The action to collect aid was also organized by the Red Cross/Cross of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The MFS-EMMAUS team set off for Fojnica and Jablanica, where they will deliver aid to the population affected by the floods.
In Fojnica, three people died, a large number of houses were damaged, many roads were impassable
The consequences of the floods were also catastrophic in the Central Bosnian Canton, and three people died in Fojnica. In the area of this canton, a large number of houses were damaged, many roads were impassable, some were even cut off due to rock falls and overflowing rivers. Numerous teams are still on the field, crisis headquarters in session.
The mayor of Kreševo municipality, Renato Pejak, thanked all those who helped the residents of Kreševo during the past two days in repairing the consequences of the floods after the big storm that affected parts of Central Bosnia and Herzegovina-Neretva counties on the night of Thursday to Friday.
“We will only be able to add up the damage in the coming days because there are villages that we haven’t been able to reach yet. We have some data on major damage to the infrastructure, but we will be able to talk about specific figures in the coming days. The most important thing is that there were no human casualties, and the damage will solve with joint forces,” Pejak told Fena news agency.
