The mountain village of Jablanica, about 30 kilometers north of the city of Mostar, is the hardest hit. There, heavy rain and storms resulted in a lot of heavy rubble burying houses. The boulders probably came from a quarry above.
Meanwhile, authorities revised the total number of deaths downward to 16 from the original 18. Some cases were mistakenly registered multiple times, said Nermin Niksic, head of government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), one of the two entities that make up the entire state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, on state television BHRT.
Image gallery: Floods in Bosnia-Herzegovina
(Photo: RUSMIR SMAJILHODZIC (AFP)) Bild 1/15
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In Jablanica alone, twelve people died as a result of flooding, a mudslide and falling rocks. Four other people died in other flooded locations in the area.
Roads impassable
The police are now also investigating to what extent the technical condition of the quarry contributed to the extent of the accident in Jablanica. “You don’t need a special investigator to see that they were victims of the collapse of the entire hill in this settlement,” Niksic said.
Country roads in the flood region were temporarily impassable. The water washed away the earth beneath railroad tracks. In several places, disaster relief workers brought people to safety in boats.
