ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Police in Croatia said Saturday that they have found the body of a 10-year-old Turkish girl who was swept away while her family tried to cross a swollen river on the border with Slovenia.
The body was found about 400 meters (1,300 feet) downstream from where the girl’s mother said her child disappeared while they were crossing the swollen Dragonja River late Thursday.
Croatian police found the mother holding onto a tree trunk in the river and suffering from cold and shock, and her other two children were already on the Slovenian side.
The family apparently was attempting to enter Slovenia, which like Croatia is a European Union member.
Thousands of migrants and refugees hoping to reach Western Europe are stuck in the Balkans. People attempting to cross borders outside of official checkpoints encounter natural hazards as well as possible exploitation by smugglers.
____
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
