Woman arrested on suspicion of drowning toddler

The mother of a 3-year-old girl was arrested in Zagreb on suspicion of aggravated murder on Thursday.

The 34-year-old woman told police on Wednesday that she had gone into the Sava River carrying the toddler in her arms near the Jankomir Bridge. That is the extent of the information police have made available at this time. An intensive search for the child has been ongoing since then. Police, firefighters, mountain rescue, and civil protection crews are scanning the river.

"This tragic event has resulted in the arrest of the mother. She was questioned by police in Zagreb. At this time, I will not go into more detail than that. It is a sensitive matter and an intensive search is still under way,” said Interior minister Davor Božinović.

Rescuers have been searching the Sava River downstream of Jankomir since Wednesday afternoon.

"The operation is going according to plan. We are conducting a detailed search. The conditions aren't great. It's quite cold and the teams have to rest. So, far he haven't found anything,” said Antonio Stanić, the head of the Zagreb City 112 Emergency Service.

Kristian Hmura, the leader of the search leader and member of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, said crews have been combing the waters tirelessly since Wednesday.

"We are rotating our teams. Because of the low temperatures, the time one can spend in the boat is limited. We are organizing fresh crews to relieve the teams that have been working. They are pretty tired,” Hmura said.

The search was called off for the day at around 7:00 pm and will resume on Friday morning.

"We have things under control. Conditions are not ideal but we are doing all that we can to find this little girl,” said Ante Milinarić from the Red Cross in Zagreb.

Rescuers have expanded their search across the county.