Bosnia was hit by severe flooding and landslides, killing at least 16 people | Flood News

According to authorities, several people are dead and others are missing in floods caused by torrential rain throughout Jablanica.

Several people have died and others are missing in floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina as torrential rains and landslides destroyed homes, roads and bridges in the center of the country.

The municipality of Jablanica, about 70 km (43 miles) southwest of the capital Sarajevo, which bore the brunt of 24 hours of rain, was completely cut off from traffic on Friday after road and rail links were destroyed.

Darko Jukan, a local administration spokesman, said at least 14 people had died in and around the southern town of Jablanica. Officials later said two more bodies were found.

“There are many people who have been reported missing,” Jukan said. The Civil Defense of the Bosnian Croat Federation said the death toll could rise.

Some houses were reduced to rubble by landslides. This appeared to be the worst flooding in Bosnia since at least 2014, when more than 20 people died in the floods.

Drone footage broadcast by Bosnian media showed villages and towns completely submerged, while videos on social media showed dramatic scenes of muddy torrents and damaged roads.

The town of Kiseljak in central Bosnia was flooded after a river burst its banks. Brown water lapped at the doors of shops and homes, drone footage from Reuters showed, although the water had begun to recede on Friday afternoon.

The cantonal government requested military assistance for the wider Jablanica area and engineers, rescue units and a helicopter were deployed, including to rescue 17 people from a psychiatric clinic.

Several injured people were evacuated by a helicopter from the European Union Peacekeeping Force (EUFOR).

Al Jazeera correspondent Ivan Pavkovic, reporting from Grabovica, one of the affected areas near Jablanica, said the floods had washed away part of the main road, leaving ambulances and police cars behind.

“They cannot continue and traffic has come to a complete standstill, making it impossible to reach the area between Jablanica and southern Bosnia,” he said. “Ambulances are now hoping to transport people by boat.”

Neighboring Croatia was also hit by floods on Friday, but there were no reports of casualties. Authorities issued a severe weather warning for the Adriatic coast and the central regions of the country.

Montenegro and Serbia also issued similar warnings. Flooding from torrential rain was also reported in Montenegro, south of Bosnia, where some villages were cut off and roads and houses were flooded.