Three persons arrested for causing panic via Facebook

BELGRADE - The Belgrade police have arrested three persons for spreading false information on social networks about the number of persons killed in the floods that hit Serbia last week.

The suspects are charged with an attempt to cause panic and disorder, head of the Belgrade police Veselin Milic said at the City Assembly.

They claimed that several hundred residents of Obrenovac were killed in the floods, which, as Milic emphasized, is not true.

Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on May 23 that 33 dead had been found in the flooded regions, adding that at least 13 had died of drowning.

The number of victims did not change, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters on Wednesday. Autopsies are underway and the list of all the victims' names will be released soon, along with the information on whether they drowned or died of natural causes, he explained.

Vucic denied the claims about more than 500 missing persons, and stated that the Serbian police have so far received 38 missing person reports related to the floods.

Photo Tanjug, F. Krainčanic (illustration)