Rescuers found another body yesterday in their search for survivors after devastating floods and landslides swept across Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, raising the death toll to at least 20.
The authorities in the south-western Herzegovina-Neretva canton, which was the hardest hit, confirmed yesterday that 16 people had died and nine were missing.
The prosecutor's office of that canton opened a case related to the quarry in Donja Jablanica, after the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nermin Nikšić, said at a press conference that the damage would not have been so great and there would not have been so many victims if the quarry, which was located on a slope, had not collapsed. above this village, Radio Free Europe (RSE) reported.
Nikšić claims that the company that managed the quarry did not have all valid work permits.
The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office announced that a team of prosecutors had been appointed to work on this case.
The President of the Government of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Marija Buhač, said that she "would not speak about responsibility at the moment", but she confirmed that the cantonal government did not issue a concession for the quarry.
RSE reported that the Ministry of Economy of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton submitted to the Government of that Canton all the documentation related to the quarry operated by the company "Sani" doo Jablanica.
"That company repeatedly asked the Government for a concession for the exploitation of stone in the area of Donja Jablanica, which they never received", announced the Government.
In Central Bosnia Canton, another area affected by floods, the bodies of three people were found, and no one is missing, the cantonal civil protection officer told Reuters.
Rescuers, some of whom arrived from Croatia and Slovenia with sniffer dogs, yesterday pulled the body of a man from the lake in the village of Buturović Polje near Konjic, and evacuated two people to safety by helicopter.
The regional government declined to immediately confirm the death, but a government official from the city confirmed to Reuters that the body had been found.
Rescue teams from Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia have been dispatched to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro is also preparing assistance within the framework of the EU civil protection mechanism, Beta reported.
At the request of the BiH Ministry of Security, the armed forces were activated on October 4, sending a helicopter, engineering machines and infantry units.
In addition to the teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region through national and EU mechanisms, there are search and rescue specialists from Great Britain who trained in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Rescuers from Montenegro were expected to arrive yesterday to help the affected areas in BiH. The team of a total of 32 members is composed of firefighters-rescuers from local protection and rescue services, members of the Red Cross of Montenegro and experts from the Protection and Rescue Directorate.
"Everything was gone in half an hour"
Rescue teams, mired in waist-deep mud, were searching the vast flooded area in Buturovic Polje for three more people missing, including a married couple, local resident Amel Sitar told Reuters, adding that his uncle was among the missing.
Sitar said the flash floods swept away 10 houses, dozens of cows and sheep, a barn - everything the locals owned. "There was my uncle's big house, the ponds, everything disappeared in half an hour".
The main road connecting the central and southern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been cut, and the railway line connecting Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Croatian port of Ploče on the Adriatic has been seriously damaged, which poses a problem for export companies.
Marija Buhač, President of the Government of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, said yesterday that the government formed a crisis headquarters in order to collect detailed information about the state of health, damage and recovery plans.
Experts say that floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina were particularly devastating due to years of neglect of riverbeds, deforestation and uncontrolled construction and exploitation of wood and stone, which further worsened the impact of climate change.
"The flood took everything away, my tools, car, nothing was left," said Bećir Hakalović from Buturović Polje. "Thank God, the family stayed".
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a decision at an emergency session to declare October 8 as the Day of Mourning in that entity due to the suffering of the population in areas affected by floods. Previously, the Government of Republika Srpska also declared October 8 as the Day of Mourning.
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