Bodies found after migrant boat capsizes in Serbia river

Crime scene tape. [iStockphoto]

Rescuers found four bodies on Thursday as they searched for people missing after a migrant boat capsized in the Drina River separating Serbia and Bosnia, officials said.

Some seven people were thought to be missing after a boat carrying around 25 migrants capsized near the border town of Ljubovija in Serbia early on Thursday, Serbian police said.

Serbia is one of the main transit countries on the so-called "Balkan route" on which migrants attempt to reach the European Union. It borders four EU nations.

Early on Thursday border police in Serbia were informed by the "Bosnian border authorities, as well as by a local resident, that during the night, a boat carrying irregular migrants capsized on the Drina River while attempting to cross from Serbia", Serbia's Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in the police statement.

Police found 18 people on the riverbank, including three children, who managed to reach the shore, and rescuers and police scoured the area for the missing.

Later in the day four bodies were found and police as rescuers continued to search for others.

"Since all four bodies were found closer to Serbia, Serbian police have taken custody of the bodies. Our team has continued the search", Boris Trninic, the head of the regional civil protection administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told local media.

More than a million people from Asia and Africa have crossed Serbia since the refugee crisis of 2015, according to the Serbian government.

The majority trying to cross in recent months come from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Morocco and Pakistan, according to government data.

The number of migrants transiting through Serbia has dropped significantly over the years, and this year, police recorded 10,389 illegal entries in the first half of 2024, which is nearly 70 percent less than last year.

Serbian officials have attributed the drop to tighter cooperation with Austrian police and with Frontex, the EU's border management agency.

Many migrants use smugglers to enter Serbia from Bulgaria and North Macedonia and then try to enter EU members Hungary or Croatia.