At least 10 people were killed when a ship carrying Middle Eastern migrants flipped while crossing the Drina River from Serbia to Bosnia, according to authorities in the two Slavic nations on Thursday.
Interior secretary Ivica Dacic reported that a Bosnian police officer called them at 5 am and that a Bosnian member had reported the accident.
Dacic first said 18 workers, including three children, managed to cross into Bosnia, out of 25 people who were in the ship when it overturned. However, he later pointed out that there may have been more migrant passengers aboard the ship when it capsized and that the number had increased to 10.
The dead body of a baby that is about nine months old has been discovered, according to Dacic. The mother’s body was pulled from the river earlier today, and the girl was with her.
Officers and rescuers are looking for the Drina valley and the surrounding terrain more, according to Dacic in a statement.
Out of 18 workers who made it to shore, 16 are from Syria and two are from Egypt, Dacic said. Ten of them are adolescents.
Bosnia’s crisis official Boris Trninic reported earlier that the boat had about 30 people in it, 15 of whom had already saved themselves.
The actual number of people on board the ship was not immediately confirmed.
Workers who want to travel to Western Europe via the so-called Balkan area way first travel to Serbia from Bulgaria or North Macedonia before moving on to Hungary, Croatia, or Bosnia.
People fleeing war and hunger frequently turn to persons pirates to take them across borders without license.
