People help old women out of a military truck today during evacuation from Obrenovac, about 18 miles southwest of Belgrade Serbia.MAGLAJ, Bosnia – Packed into buses, boats and helicopters, carrying nothing but a handful of belongings, tens of thousands fled their homes Saturday in Bosnia and Serbia to escape the worst flooding in a century.
Rapidly rising rivers surged into homes, sometimes reaching up to the second floors, sending people climbing to rooftops for rescue.
Hundreds were also evacuated in Croatia.
Authorities said 25 people have died but warned the death toll could rise. Tens of thousands of homes were left without electricity or drinking water.
Landslides triggered by the floods also raised the risk of injury or death from land mines left over from Bosnia’s 1992-95 war. The landslides swept away many of the carefully placed warning signs around the minefields.