France doubles number of rescuers in Serbia

BELGRADE - Last weekend, France doubled the number of technical rescuers it has sent to help relief efforts in Serbia after recent massive floods in the country, increasing it to a total of 89 rescue workers who are all on the ground right now, the French Embassy in Belgrade has said in a release.

The new rescuers and equipment they brought have helped increase water pumping capacity to four million liters of water per hour and they installed a water purification plant to produce 225,000 one liter bottles a day.

Last weekend, a team of 40 rescue members of the Civil Security from Brignoles in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, specialized in purifying water, was sent to Serbia with the plant for the production of drinking water.

The team and the equipment are currently deployed in the region of the towns of Cuprija and Svilajnac along the Morava River in central Serbia.

France has also sent a reconnaissance helicopter, the embassy said.

Photo Tanjug/D. Peternek