8,500 people being evacuated from villages near Sava River

BELGRADE - General Ljubisa Dikovic, commander of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff and head of the emergency headquarters in Sabac, ordered an evacuation of around 8,500 people from several villages near the Sava River, upstream and downstream from Sabac, for preventative reasons, Chief of the Emergency Situations Sector Predrag Maric said on Monday.

The critical situation is also in the small town of Mali Zvornik, western Serbia, where a major landslide occurred as "the entire mountain started moving toward the Drina River", Maric said to the Belgrade-based broadcaster Pink.

Because of this, a danger arose that a natural dam could be created and divert the Drina toward Mali Zvornik, but fortunately the entire process slowed down, Maric stressed.

Maric said that a new flood surge is expected to arrive on Wednesday from Croatia, adding that there are plans for flood defenses.

"The biggest job lies ahead of us - to ensure that life gets back to normal once the immediate danger is behind us," Maric said.

He voiced hope that the enthusiasm of young people and other volunteers would not dampen in the next several months, noting that every man is vital in efforts to restore Serbia to the situation before the flooding.

Photo Tanjug, Nemanja Jovanovic (illustration)