International rescue teams arrive in Bosnia after devastating floods and landslides

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Rescue teams from Bosnia’s neighbors and European Union countries on Sunday were joining efforts to clear the rubble and find people still missing from floods and landslides that devastated parts of the Balkan country.

Bosnia sought EU help after a heavy rainstorm overnight on Friday left entire areas under water and debris destroyed roads and bridges, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens.

“Our hearts and thoughts are with the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, hit by devastating floods,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X. “We have activated our EU Civil Protection Mechanism and are sending rescue teams on the ground. This is EU solidarity in action.”

Officials said that at least 10 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the village of Donja Jablanica, in southern Bosnia, which was almost completely buried in rocks and rubble from a quarry on a hill above.

Residents there have said they heard a thundering rumble and saw houses disappear before their eyes.

“We heard water and rock coming down from the hill. I told my son, Let’s go up to the attic, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” recalled Munevera Dautbegovic. “In the morning when we got out, we saw large amount of sand around.”

Regional Gov. Nermin Niksic visited the village on Sunday, promising help to rebuild. “All material damage can be compensated somehow but human lives cannot. Grief will stay on.”

Earlier on Sunday, Luigi Soreca, who heads the EU mission in Bosnia, said on X that teams wer arriving to help. Bosnia is a candidate country for membership in the 27-nation bloc.

Authorities said Croatian rescuers have already arrived while a team from Serbia is expected to be deployed in the afternoon, followed by a Slovenian team with dogs. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Czechia and Turkey have also offered help, a government statement said.

Sunday is the date of a local election in Bosnia. Election authorities have postponed voting in the flood-hit regions, but the flooding has overshadowed the vote across the country.

Ismeta Bucalovic, a resident of Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital, said “we are all overwhelmed by these flooding events. We all think only about that.”

Impoverished and ethnically divided, Bosnia has struggled to recover after the brutal war in 1992-95. The country is plagued by political bickering and corruption, stalling its EU bid.