ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A migrant child is missing and a woman had to be rescued after trying to cross a swollen river on the border between Croatia and Slovenia, Croatian police said Friday.
Police in the northern Istria peninsula late on Thursday received an emergency call and found the woman in “bad physical condition” holding on to a tree trunk by the bank of the Dragonja river.
A Croatian and a Slovenian policeman, along with a local resident, managed to put the woman on a ladder and pull her out, said a police statement.
The statement said that the woman was suffering from cold and shock when found. Another child and an 18-year-old also were found on the Slovenian side of the river.
A third child was apparently swept away by the river current and rescue teams have launched a search that continued on Friday, it said.
Croatian police gave no other details, including the nationality of the people. Regional N1 news portal in Slovenia said they were from Turkey and that the missing child is a 10-year-old girl.
The border between Croatia and Slovenia lies on a route used by migrants trying to reach Western Europe.
Thousands more remain stuck in the Balkans as the winter approaches. Hundreds of people are believed to be sleeping rough in makeshift tents or abandoned houses throughout the region.
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