Rescuers and villagers search for missing after Bosnia's floods wash away entire houses

Record ID: 1846541

  • Title: Rescuers and villagers search for missing after Bosnia's floods wash away entire houses
  • Date: 7th October 2024
  • Summary: BUTUROVIC POLJE, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (OCTOBER 7, 2024) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS WALKING AMONG DEBRIS IN FLOODWATER LOOKING FOR POSSIBLE VICTIMS (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS CARRYING STRETCHER (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS WADING IN FLOODWATER (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF FLOODWATER BY FOREST (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS WALKING IN FLOODWATER VARIOUS OF EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS WALKING AMONG DEBRIS EXCAVATORS WORKING EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS WATCHING FLOODS (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF DAMAGED BUILDINGS AND DEBRIS BY BRIDGE PEOPLE WALKING, DESTROYED HOUSE IN BACKGROUND SHELF FROM KITCHEN IN HOUSE SEEN THROUGH BROKEN WALL EXCAVATOR AT WORK BY DAMAGED HOUSE, FLOODWATER FLOWING PAST VAN COVERED IN DEBRIS FROM FLOOD VAN PARKED BY DEBRIS BY BRIDGE TRUCK DRIVING BY DEBRIS EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS AT WORK AMONG DEBRIS VARIOUS OF EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS AMONG DEBRIS WITH DOGS VARIOUS OF MAN STANDING AND WALKING ON DEBRIS LOCAL RESIDENT, AMEL SITAR, LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) LOCAL RESIDENT, AMEL SITAR, SAYING (POINTING INSIDE BUILDING): "There was my bedroom and there was a chest of drawers in the bathroom. You can see how high the water level was - my floor is three metres (9.8 feet) high, and the water reached the top of the floor and spread to the second floor, which means the water level must have been over 5 metres." HOUSE SURROUNDED BY TREE BRANCHES, FALLEN TREE TRUNK (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) LOCAL RESIDENT, AMEL SITAR, SAYING: "My uncle's big house was above my house, and then there was another building, then a drying kiln and two fish-ponds, each 50 metres (55 yards approx) long. It was all gone in half an hour. The flood here was over 5-6 metres high." VARIOUS OF SITAR LOOKING AT DAMAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) LOCAL RESIDENT, AMEL SITAR, SAYING: "Ten houses were washed away (by the flood), a barn, cattle, 8-9 cows, a bull, 40 sheep disappeared, five cars... They are still looking for a woman from that house, from the house over there they’re still looking for my uncle and from this house below, Ahmed and his wife, who have not yet been found." SITAR LOOKING AT DAMAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) LOCAL RESIDENT, AMEL SITAR, SAYING: "What next? You tell me what to do next, when everything you have worked so hard for in life vanishes in a matter of minutes, and you lose everything in the blink of an eye." DEBRIS, EXCAVATORS WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) LOCAL RESIDENT, BECIR HAKALOVIC, SAYING: "Everything (the flood) took away from me, everything. Tools, car, everything, I have nothing left, it's easier for me to say so, because I have nothing left to list, I have nothing left. Only family, thank God, that's what I have left." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING BY DEBRIS (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) LOCAL RESIDENT, BECIR HAKALOVIC, SAYING: "It started at half past one, and got stronger and stronger. I thought it wasn't going to (grow into a flood), until it got clogged up here. My car was in the garage, when the flood gushed into the garage, it broke through the wall, then went on the car, and the house just tilted this way. (The water) carried everything away." MAN SITTING ON STEPS OF HOUSE PEOPLE LOOKING AT DEBRIS AND DAMAGE
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2024 13:32
  • Keywords: Bosnian flooding climate change flooding in Europe heavy rain natural disaster
  • Location: BUTUROVIC POLJE, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
  • City: BUTUROVIC POLJE, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
  • Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Floods,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001984107102024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: People in the Bosnian village of Buturovic Polje surveyed the damage from recent deadly floods on Monday (October 7) as emergency service workers looked for people who are still unaccounted for after the disaster.
    At least 19 people died in the floods across two of Bosnia's cantons in the centre and south of the country, according to local officials.
    In Buturovic Polje, local resident Amel Sitar pointed to the level the water had reached inside his house on the second floor, saying the floodwater must have been 5 metres (16.4 feet) at its highest.
    Sitar said rescue teams were still looking for at least four missing people from the village, including his uncle.
    He and another local resident, Becir Hakalovic, said the floods had wiped out local people's homes and livelihoods. "I have nothing left. Only family, thank God, that's what I have left", Hakalovic said.
    The floods follow an unprecedented summer drought which caused many rivers and lakes to dry up, and affected agriculture and the supply of water to urban areas throughout the Balkans and much of Europe.
    (Production: Fedja Grulovic, Lewis Macdonald)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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