At least 10 people drowned after a boat full of migrants capsized overnight on the Drina River as it was attempting to cross over from Serbia to Bosnia-Herzegovina, authorities in the two countries said on August 22.
Rescuers found 18 people alive, including three children, who had managed to reach the riverbank, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said.
Ten bodies, including the body of a 9-month-old baby and his mother, have been recovered, Dacic said.
Serbian rescuers pulled the bodies of six men from the river, he said. The bodies of two other men were located by members of the Republika Srpska police, Dacic said, adding that as of about 6 p.m. local time the search was still ongoing.
Boris Trninic, the director of Republika Srpska's Civil Protection Service, confirmed to RFE/RL that a boat capsized near the town of Tegara in the municipality of Bratunac during an illegal crossing from Serbia to Bosnia.
Trninic also said the search was continuing.
It was not immediately possible to establish the exact number of people on the boat, but survivors told rescuers there were about 25 people on board.
Police and rescuers work on the banks of the Drina River, near Tegare on the Bosnian side, where the migrant boat capsized, on August 22.
Members of the border police of Bosnia-Herzegovina, firefighters from the Bosnian town of Bratunac and from Serbia, divers from Republika Srpska's Civil Protection Service as well as Serbian police divers are taking part in the search on the river and its banks, authorities told RFE/RL.
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.
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As Migrant Route Claims Lives, Bosnians Strive To Help Victims' Families
Bosnian police said efforts are under way to identify and apprehend the smugglers who are responsible for the tragedy.
"The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia-Herzegovina has been informed about all of the above, and at this moment everything is being done to establish the facts and take all measures and actions to shed light on this event," Bosnia's border police said in a statement for RFE/RL.
Serbia lies on the so-called Balkan migration route to Western Europe. At least 40 people have died over the past decade trying to cross the Drina, according to an RFE/RL Balkan Service count.