State of emergency in parts of Serbia due to flooding

State of emergency in parts of Serbia due to flooding

BELGRADE -- The West (Zapadna) Morava River overflowed its banks on Monday morning, the Interior Ministry's Sector for Emergency Situations has said.

Officials told the Beta news agency that if the river's water level continued to rise, railroad traffic could be in danger on the Požega-Čačak line that passes through Banja.

In Lučani, central Serbia, Mayor Radomir Sretenović told Tanjug that the Bjelica River had flooded hundreds of hectares of fields and pastures, and that several landslides and rockslides were expected to become active.

(Tanjug)

Sretenović said that ministers of transport and construction, Aleksandar Antić and Velimir Ilić, would be in Lučani on Monday to attend a meeting expected to take measures to alleviate the situation.

A state of emergency was declared on Sunday in 11 municipalities hit by the floods: Lučani, Požega, Kuršumlija, Prokuplje, Zaječar, Medveđa, Lebane, Doljevac, Gadžin Han, Trgovište, and Žitorađa.

Rescuers had to evacuate 440 people, and the situation could deteriorate over the next days as more rainfall has been forecast while snow is melting on the mountains.