The boat carrying an estimated 30 illegal migrants was attempting to cross the river from Serbia to Bosnia.
ADVERTISEMENTAt least eight people have drowned and more are missing after a boat carrying illegal migrants capsized while attempting to cross the Drina river from Serbia to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Serbia’s Interior Minister, Ivica Dacic, said police had received a call early Thursday morning from their counterparts in Bosnia and a citizen who had reported the accident.
Unofficial estimates put the number of people on the boat when it overturned at 30, of which 18 managed to reach the shore in Bosnia.
Sixteen of them are believed to be Syrian, while the other two are from Egypt. The boat was reportedly carrying 10 minors at the time it capsized.
Civil defence rescue teams, Bosnian and Serbian border police, divers, and firefighters have been deployed along the forested river banks in search for survivors.
Each year, thousands of migrants use the so-called Balkan land route in a bid to reach the European Union.
They come to Serbia from Bulgaria or North Macedonia before moving on to Hungary, Croatia, or Bosnia.
To reach wealthy European countries, people fleeing wars and poverty often turn to smugglers to take them across borders without authorisation.