Officials said that a boat carrying migrants capsized in the Drina River separating Serbia and Bosnia on Thursday, and at least nine people lost their lives.
Serbian police reported that several people are thought to be missing after a boat carrying around two dozen migrants flipped over near the border town of Ljubovija in Serbia earlier today.
“The search and rescue team and divers found the bodies of nine migrants whose boat capsized this morning,” said Bosnia’s civil protection group, which was overseeing the rescue operations.
“Other people are still missing,” they added without providing a figure.
The Bosnian authorities informed AFP that they are unable to provide information about the victims’ nationalities for the time being.
Among the main transit countries on the ‘Balkan route’, migrants try to reach the European Union are Serbia and Bosnia.
Early Thursday, Serbian border police were informed by the “Bosnian border authorities, as well as by a local resident, that during the night, a boat carrying irregular migrants capsized on the Drina River while attempting to cross from Serbia”, Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in a statement.
After the incident, police discovered 18 people on the riverbank, including three children, who escaped and were found by rescuers and police searching the area for the missing. The Serbian government has reported that more than a million people from Asia and Africa have entered Serbia since the 2015 refugee crisis.
According to government data, the majority of individuals trying to cross in recent months are from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Morocco, and Pakistan.
Over the past few years, there has been a significant decrease in the number of migrants transiting through Serbia. In the first half of 2024, police recorded 10,389 illegal entries, which is nearly 70 percent less than last year.
Serbian authorities have attributed the decrease to enhanced collaboration with Austrian police and Frontex, the EU’s border management agency.
Smugglers are a common method for migrants to enter Serbia from Bulgaria and North Macedonia and then attempt to cross into EU member Hungary or Croatia.
A non-governmental organization called L'Auberge des Migrants ("The migrant hostel") mourned the deaths on X, saying "This border kills in the greatest of silences."
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