About 2,000 people turned out on October 15 for the burial of 19 villagers who died when flash floods and landslides swept through Bosnia-Herzegovina earlier this month.
The burials took place at a cemetery in the town of Jablanica in southern Bosnia. Mourners stood behind a row of imams and other religious leaders who faced 19 coffins draped in green cloth, in keeping with Islamic tradition.
The coffins were then lowered into the ground and dirt was shoveled on top of them.
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Funeral Service For Flood Victims in Southern Bosnia
The 19 victims were from Donja Jablanica, a village outside Jablanica where the Bosnian Islamic Community's grand mufti, Husein Kavazovic, led a prayer service before the burial.
“No words are necessary,” said Kavazovic, addressing the mourners outside Jablanica Mosque. “Although the grief is deep and unbearable, we are aware that God decides about our lives. We are mortals.”
All the victims died on the night of October 4 when heavy rains caused torrential flooding and landslides. The storm sent piles of rocks, mud, and water into the village, demolishing many houses.
In the wider area of northern Herzegovina and central Bosnia, the amount of rain caught people by surprise, and entire areas were cut off as flash floods swept away roads and bridges.
In addition to the 19 people killed in Donja Jablanica, four people died in Konjice and three died in the area of Fojnica. One person is still missing.
Bosnia Attempts Recovery After Record Floods, Landslides
Semir Jahic, a Muslim cleric from Jablanica, said 18 members of his congregation had died in the floods.
"This is a difficult and moving situation," he was quoted by the AP as saying. "We are too small a community to lose so many people in one day."
Bosnian government officials said the collapse of a quarry was the cause of the large number of victims in Donja Jablanica.
Rescue teams from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro assisted in the search for missing persons in the flooded areas during the past week, while engineering units helped in other recovery efforts.
Aid was also delivered through the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union for housing, electricity generators, water pumps, and other equipment needed by displaced persons, the Bosnian Security Ministry said on October 14.
Floods and landslides destroyed at least 230 buildings in Jablanica, and the estimated damage is around 25.6 million euros ($28 million).