At least 22 people have died in devastating floods in Bosnia, by Reuters

By Daria Sito-Sucic

SARAJEVO (Reuters) – At least 22 people have died after floods and landslides wiped out entire villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina and caused huge damage to the impoverished Balkan country, officials said on Tuesday.

A key transport infrastructure linking central and southern Bosnia was badly damaged, businesses and homes submerged by flash floods and livestock swept away.

Damage estimates are in the early stages as rescuers are still searching for survivors in the area around the southern towns of Konjic and Jablanica, which were the worst hit.

Another body was recovered from a lake in the village of Buturovic Polje on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 22, a local official said. Six people are still missing.

Darko Juka, spokesman for the Herzegovina-Neretva canton government, said it was too early to talk about numbers, but that the damage would be huge.

The railway line connecting the Bosnian cities to the Croatian port of Ploce was completely destroyed in a 17 km section towards the southern city of Mostar.

A 200 meter long section of railway could be seen suspended in the air.

“A daily loss from the drop in freight and passenger revenue alone amounts to 280,000 Bosnian marks ($157,000),” said Samir Kadric, spokesman for regional railway company Zeljeznice Federacije BiH.

“It is quite certain that the damage caused by this disaster will amount to tens of millions of marks,” Kadric said, adding that the company will start track repair work next week.

Many Bosnian exporting companies, such as ArcelorMittal (NYSE:) Zenica, Adriatic Metals and Aluminum Industries, usually move their products to the port of Ploce by rail.

UK-based Adriatic Metals, which operates the silver, lead and barite mine in central Bosnia, said it would use road transport until the railway was fully repaired.

“Adriatic does not expect any impact on ongoing operations and is confident of using road logistics as a temporary solution,” it said in a statement to Reuters.

($1 = 1.7809 marks)