BELGRADE, Serbia
The death toll in Serbia due to the recent flooding in the Balkans has risen to 27 after ten more bodies were recovered, the country’s prime minister said on Thursday.
Aleksandar Vucic said the disaster caused millions of euro in damages and that the biggest wreckage occurred in power and energy systems, highways and other infrastructure.
The Serbian foreign ministry issued a statement saying that out of almost 800 people registered missing 547 were still unaccounted for.
In neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, the death toll rose to 25 as one more body was recovered in the northeastern town of Doboj on Thursday.
Heavy rainfall, which began last week and caused the worst regional flooding in 120 years, was the highest ever recorded in the Balkans.
Excessive water led to rivers breaking their banks and landslides which have killed dozens of people and left thousands homeless.
On the other hand, officials in Bosnia have begun to take precautions against danger of epidemic diseases following the cessation of rains and increasing temperatures.
Bosnia and Serbia agreed to annihilate the dead animals, said Fahrudin Solak, the president of civil protection center of Bosnia.
Dead animals will immediately be collected and sent to Indjija, one of the most developed municipalities in Serbia, said Solak, adding it will cost a lot to Serbia as this annihilation process is expensive.
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