BRATUNAC, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A boat carrying migrants from the Middle East overturned while crossing the Drina River from Serbia to Bosnia, drowning at least 10 people, officials in the two Balkan countries said Thursday.
Serbian police received a call around 5 a.m. from their counterparts in Bosnia and a citizen who reported the accident, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.
Dacic initially said 18 migrants, including three children, managed to cross into Bosnia, out of 25 people who were in the boat when it overturned. But he later said the number of victims had reached 10, suggesting there might have been more migrants in the boat when it capsized.
“The lifeless body of a baby that is about nine months old has been found,” said Dacic. “The baby was with its mother whose body was pulled out of the river earlier today.”
“Police and rescuers are continuing a further search of the Drina river and the surrounding terrain,” said Dacic in a statement.
Out of 18 migrants who made it to shore, 16 are from Syria and two are from Egypt, Dacic said. Ten of them are minors.
Bosnian emergency official Boris Trninic said earlier there were about 30 people in the boat, 15 of whom reached safety.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the exact number of people on the vessel.
Migrants using the so-called Balkan land route in their efforts to reach Western Europe come to Serbia from Bulgaria or North Macedonia before moving on to Hungary, Croatia or Bosnia.
To reach wealthy European countries, people fleeing wars and poverty often turn to people smugglers to take them across borders without authorization.
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