At least one person has drowned after a boat capsized in the Danube River

Rescue teams from Serbia and Croatia are searching for several people after a boat with a group of migrants capsized on the Danube River near Bačka Palanka on Sunday night. It is believed they were trying to reach the Croatian side of the Danube near the town of Sotin.

Croatian rescue teams have joined in the search for a number of people who went missing on the Danube River after their boat capsized at around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday not far from Sotin. Based on the available information, at least one person died in the tragedy. According to reports there were ten Chinese citizens and one Serbian national in the boat. The police believe that it was a failed attempt to illegally cross the border into Croatia.

Croatian and Serbian emergency services dispatched to the scene immediately, with the Croatian police rescuing five people from the water. All told nine people were pulled from the river, however, one was already dead. The search continues for at least two more people.

The acting Deputy Chief of the Vukovar-Srijem Police Department, Dragoslav Živković: "We believe there was a larger number of people in the capsized vessel, and for this reason we have dispatched additional police with boats, sonar, thermal cameras, drones and canine units. We have also called on the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, the Civil Protectorate, and the Port Authority, in order to locate the missing people."

Source: HRT