The number of dead in the sinking of a migrant boat on the Drina River on the border between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia has risen to 11, including a 9-month-old baby.
The search for more bodies continued on August 23 after the 11th body was pulled from the river. Rescuers found 18 people alive, including three children, who managed to reach the riverbank, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on August 22.
Boris Trninic, director of Republika Srpska's Civil Protection Service, confirmed to RFE/RL that the migrant boat capsized near the town of Tegara in the municipality of Bratunac during an illegal crossing from Serbia to Bosnia.
Witness Milica Avdalovic told RFE/RL she was awakened between 4 and 5 a.m. local time on August 22 by the sound of a barking dog.
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Infant Among Victims After Migrant Boat Capsizes Between Serbia And Bosnia
"Screams were coming from the Drina. We thought at first it was some young people there, but the dog continued to bark uncontrollably. I went out the window and noticed people trying to swim toward the shore," she said.
Then she saw a man asking for help. He indicated there were women and children in danger and said they were on a boat that sank with 25 people on board.
Zlatan Simic, commander of the local fire and rescue unit, said the search was still ongoing on August 23.
"We are on the water, starting the search from the point where the accident occurred, and the riverbed is being searched again in the hope that we will find the rest [of the victims]," he said, adding that rescuers do not know the number of people who were on the boat.
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As Migrant Route Claims Lives, Bosnians Strive To Help Victims' Families
The survivors have been receiving humanitarian aid, said Nihad Suljic, a volunteer with the NGO SOS Balkan Route. Some will be admitted to a reception center in Sarajevo and then returned to Serbia.
Suljic said children whose parents drowned were sent to a center in Belgrade.
Bosnian police said efforts are under way to identify and apprehend the smugglers responsible for the tragedy.
Serbia lies on the so-called Balkan migration route to Western Europe. Migrants fleeing wars and poverty in Africa and the Middle East often fall prey to people smugglers who promise to illegally take them across borders in their quest to reach Western Europe.