On Thursday, rescuers discovered four bodies during their search for missing individuals following the capsizing of a migrant boat in the Drina River, which divides Serbia and Bosnia, according to officials.
Serbian police reported that approximately seven people were believed to be missing after a boat, carrying about 25 migrants, capsized near the Serbian border town of Ljubovija early Thursday. Serbia is a key transit country on the so-called 'Balkan route' used by migrants to reach the European Union, and it shares borders with four EU nations.
Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic stated in a police statement that border police in Serbia were alerted by Bosnian border authorities and a local resident about a boat carrying irregular migrants capsizing on the Drina River during a crossing attempt from Serbia.
Police located 18 individuals on the riverbank, including three children who had made it to shore, and continued to search the area for the missing with the help of rescuers. Later, four bodies were found, and the search for others continued.
Boris Trninic, head of the regional civil protection administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, informed local media that since the four bodies were found closer to Serbia, Serbian police had taken custody of them. The search operation continued.
Over a million people from Asia and Africa have traversed Serbia since the 2015 refugee crisis, according to the Serbian government. Most recent migrants come from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Morocco, and Pakistan, as per government data. The number of migrants passing through Serbia has significantly decreased over the years; in the first half of 2024, police recorded 10,389 illegal entries, a nearly 70 percent reduction from the previous year. Serbian officials credit this decline to enhanced cooperation with Austrian police and Frontex, the EU's border management agency.
Many migrants use smugglers to enter Serbia from Bulgaria and North Macedonia before attempting to enter EU member states Hungary or Croatia.
