Neighbours help flooded Serbia and BiH

Neighbours help flooded Serbia and BiH

Regional countries organise humanitarian drives and provide much-needed personnel and equipment, while citizens donate food and other necessities.

Thousands of Macedonians brought bottled water, canned food, clothing and other items in a humanitarian aid drive at Skopje's central square to help flood victims in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. [Miki Trajkovski/SETimes]

Organisations in Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Turkey are providing humanitarian aid to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) following catastrophic floods that killed dozens and have left thousands homeless. The countries have sent specially trained teams, equipment, water, food, medicine and volunteers to Serbian and BiH authorities.

"The assistance is part of the agreement we have with the respective institutions in Serbia and BiH dealing with crisis management. We are constantly in touch and implement all activities in accordance with their needs and plans," Montenegro's government said in a statement.

Macedonia deployed divers, lifeguards and mountaineers -- members of Macedonia's special police unit Tigers -- an Mi-17 helicopter, 45 water pumps, 35 generators, 3,000 blankets, a medical team and medicines.

"Given the humanitarian dimension of this disaster we are helping as much as possible," Shaban Saliu, director of Macedonia's Protection and Rescue Directorate, told SETimes. "This shows how much goodwill and co-operation there is among the regional states any time when it is needed."

Macedonia also supplied Serbia with 80 megawatts of electricity per hour, while the water bottling facility Kozuvcanka provided 30,000 bottles of water.

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