BELGRADE (Reuters) – Heavy snow and strong winds, unusual for the springtime, swept through most of the western Balkan region on Tuesday.
In central Serbia, a bus swerved off a snow-covered road and 18 people were slightly injured, the state RTS TV reported.
In the capital Belgrade, two girls were also injured when a tree branch brought down by wet and heavy snow fell on them, health authorities said.
Nedeljko Todorovic, a meteorologist said that although snowfall is not unusual in Belgrade in April, it rarely holds.
“If you look at data over the past 100 years, this is the eleventh snow cover recorded in Belgrade in April, and its thickness is over 14 centimetres, the thickest recorded so far,” he said.
A number of mountain roads in Serbia were blocked by snow which was in places 40 centimetres thick. Several villages were left without electricity, the Interior Ministry’s Department for Emergencies said in a statement.
It also warned about possible flooding along some river basins due to a thaw expected in the coming days.
In Croatia and Montenegro, strong winds halted ferry lines along the Adriatic coast. Croatian authorities have also banned road traffic along several coastal roads.
In Kosovo, authorities in the capital Pristina warned people to avoid visiting city parks due to the danger of falling branches, local media reported. Heavy snow was also recorded in Bosnia.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Christina Fincher)
