Landslide and Freezing Weather Cause Bosnia Deaths

One woman was killed and three other people injured on Sunday when a landslide, possibly triggered by heavy snow, engulfed ten houses in the town of Kakanj, 50 kilometres north of Sarajevo.

"Four people were trapped in two households. One person died, probably right away, as she was crushed by a wall," Nurudin Hrusto, the Kakanj mayor's assistant for civil protection, told Balkan Insight.

The landslide destroyed a total of ten homes while 12 other families were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Civil protection crews and geologists were working on a clean-up operation and examining possible reasons for the landslide, Hrusto said, adding that initial findings suggested that the landslide could have been triggered by recent snows or bad weather conditions.

A series of floods hit the same area in central and northern Bosnia last year in May and August, causing massive landslides and causing more than 21 casualties.

Due to continued political wrangling, Bosnia was unable to use most of the foreign financial assistance that was pledged at an emergency donor conference in November last year in Brussels and entered the winter unprepared, experts said at the end of 2014.    

Meanwhile, the snow and low temperatures which hit the Balkan region at the end of December have also claimed several lives.

Local media reported in recent days that one person froze to death on New Year's Eve in the industrial town of Zenica, while six others died due to freezing temperatures in Tuzla, Jablanica, Banja Luka, Celinac, Sipovo and Sanski Most.

The lowest temperature reported recently was minus 26 degrees Celsius in the town of Sokolac.