Flash floods, landslides devastate central Bosnia-Herzegovina At least 18 dead

Flash floods and landslides in central Bosnia-Herzegovina have left at least 18 people dead, with towns and villages cut off as torrential rains triggered widespread devastation.

The hardest-hit area surrounds Jablanica, located on the main route between Mostar and the capital, Sarajevo, with reports of homes nearly submerged and entire communities cut off by rising water, Caliber.Az reports per British media.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with more than a dozen people still missing.

On October 5, two additional bodies were found in the village of Donja Jablanica, where a landslide from a nearby quarry buried homes, leaving water levels as high as the rooftops. Rescuers, aided by teams from Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, and the EU, are working to clear mud and debris from inundated houses.

A state of emergency has been declared, with Development Minister Vojin Mijatovic describing the disaster as catastrophic and appealing for calm. Earlier reports of 16 deaths in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton were revised to 13, while three more deaths were confirmed in the town of Fojnica.

Severe overnight storms caused rivers to burst their banks, submerging towns and villages. Roads, bridges, and railway lines were destroyed or blocked, with landslides burying homes in rocks and mud. In Jablanica, a 17km stretch of railway was heavily damaged, and a 200m section of track was left hanging by a landslide near the River Neretva.

Authorities have warned drivers to avoid dangerous roads near Jablanica, while further east, flooding around Kiseljak has left streets submerged. The disaster extends beyond Bosnia, with Montenegro's village of Komarnica cut off by washed-out roads and rising water levels in Croatia's rivers threatening areas around Karlovac.

Last month, floods struck much of Central Europe, with Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania among the hardest-hit. Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group have linked the increasing severity of these floods to climate change, as Europe continues to experience unprecedented warming, with the last five years being 2.3°C warmer on average than the late 19th century.

By Khagan Isayev