In the center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, houses, highways, and bridges have been devastated by landslides and severe rains, resulting in the deaths of several persons and the disappearance of others.
After road and train connections were destroyed on Friday, the municipality of Jablanica, which was hardest hit by a 24-hour period of heavy rain, was cut off altogether. Jablanica is located about 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Sarajevo, the city.
Darko Jukan, a Bosniak, Serb, and Croat tripartite representative for the interethnic presidency of Bosnia, stated that “at least 14 dead were found in the Jablanica area.” “Many people have been reported missing.”
The Bosniak-Croat Federation’s civil defense warned that the death toll might go up. In what seemed to be Bosnia’s worst flooding since at least 2014, when more than 20 people perished in floods, some houses had been turned to rubble by landslides.
Drone footage broadcast on Bosnian media showed villages and towns completely submerged under water, while videos on social networks showed dramatic scenes of muddy torrents and damaged roads.
A river broke its banks, causing the town of Kiseljak in central Bosnia to be completely submerged. Drone footage from the Reuters news agency showed brown water lapping at the doors of homes and businesses; but, by Friday afternoon, the floods had started to subside.
Engineers, rescue teams, and a helicopter were sent in after the cantonal administration requested military assistance for the larger Jablanica region. Among their tasks was the extraction of seventeen individuals from a mental health facility. A helicopter from the European Union peacekeeping force (EUFOR) evacuated a number of injured individuals.