International rescue teams arrive in Bosnia after devastating floods and landslides

SARAJEVO:

Rescue teams

from

Bosnia

's neighbors and European Union countries on Sunday were joining efforts to clear the rubble and find people still missing from

floods

and

landslides

that devastated parts of the Balkan country.
Bosnia sought

EU

help after a heavy rainstorm overnight on Friday left entire areas under water and debris destroyed roads and bridges, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens.

Officials said that at least 10 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the village of

Donja Jablanica

, in southern Bosnia, which was almost completely buried in rocks and rubble from a quarry on a hill above.
Residents there have said they heard a thundering rumble and saw houses disappear before their eyes.

Luigi Soreca, who heads the EU mission in Bosnia, said on X that the EU stands with Bosnia and that teams are arriving to help. Bosnia is a candidate country for membership in the 27-nation bloc.
Authorities said

Croatian rescuers

have already arrived while a team from

Serbia

is expected to be deployed in the afternoon, followed by a Slovenian team with dogs. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Czechia and Turkey have also offered help, a government statement said.

Sunday is the date of a

local election

in Bosnia. Election authorities have postponed voting in the flood-hit regions, but the flooding has overshadowed the vote across the country.
Ismeta Bucalovic, a resident of Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital, said "we are all overwhelmed by these flooding events. We all think only about that."
Impoverished and ethnically divided, Bosnia has struggled to recover after the brutal war in 1992-95. The country is plagued by political bickering and corruption, stalling its EU bid.