Floods in Sarajevo after heavy rain

– We couldn’t save equipment, we had to save lives. The water came quickly, like a tsunami, and we were lucky to get help from the lifeboats, says facility manager Avdo Delek to AP.

According to Avdo Delic, if they cannot quickly re-run operations elsewhere, there is a risk that hospitals across the country may be left without medical oxygen tubes used to treat Covid patients, among other things.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has one of the highest per capita mortality rates in Europe during the pandemic, while the country’s vaccination rate of less than 20 percent is among the lowest. On Friday, more than a thousand new infections and 32 new deaths were recorded.

Oxygen plant in The capital, Sarajevo, was one of hundreds of buildings that had to be evacuated quickly when torrential rains, which began on Friday night, flooded the streets.

– It’s all under water. I spoke to a friend who said he couldn’t get out of the house, Saleh Ramadanani, a resident of Otis district, told the Associated Press.

Most of Sarajevo was also affected by an hour-long power outage due to the floods, but no injuries were reported so far.

As expected Rain will continue in the area throughout the weekend.

– Firefighter Dennis Mimagic, the evacuation coordinator, told the Associated Press that the situation is bad and we don’t expect it to improve soon.