Baby among migrants who drowned crossing river from Serbia to Bosnia
22 August 2024, 18:04
A nine-month-old baby was among at least 10 people who drowned after a boat carrying migrants capsized in the Drina river, officials said.
A baby was among at least 10 people who drowned after a boat carrying migrants overturned while crossing the Drina river from Serbia to Bosnia, officials in the two Balkan countries said.
Serbian police received a call around 5am on Thursday from their counterparts in Bosnia along with a citizen who reported the accident, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.
Mr Dacic initially said that 18 migrants, including three children, managed to cross into Bosnia, out of 25 people who were in the boat when it overturned.
But he later said that the number of victims had reached 10 people, which suggests there might have been more migrants in the boat when it capsized.
“The lifeless body of a baby that is about nine-months-old has been found,” said Mr Dacic.
“The baby was with its mother whose body was pulled out of the river earlier today.”
Out of 18 migrants who made it to shore, 16 are from Syria and two are from Egypt, Dacic said. Ten of them are minors.
Bosnian emergency official Boris Trninic said earlier there were about 30 people in the boat, 15 of whom reached safety.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the exact number of people on the boat.
Migrants using the so-called Balkan land route in their efforts to reach Western Europe come to Serbia from Bulgaria or North Macedonia before moving on to Hungary, Croatia or Bosnia.
To reach wealthy European countries, people fleeing wars and poverty often turn to people smugglers to take them across borders without authorisation.
