Four months since the tragedy in Jablanica: Pre-investigative actions ongoing, no indictment yet

(Patria) - Pre-investigative actions are still ongoing, the Prosecutor's Office of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNK) told Radio Slobodna Evropa today, four months after 19 people lost their lives in Jablanica due to floods and the collapse of rocks and mud from a nearby quarry.

When asked if an indictment would be filed, the HNK Prosecutor's Office stated that "it will depend on the results of the checks and the evidence that will be collected." They also added that the goal of the months-long pre-investigative actions is "to establish grounds for suspicion of a criminal offense having been committed".

Heavy rainfall hit Bosnia and Herzegovina on the night between Thursday and Friday, October 4th, causing flash floods and inundations. The rain activated numerous landslides, and the most severe situation was in the village of Donja Jablanica.

Nineteen people from Jablanica and four from Konjic in northern Herzegovina died, while three people perished in the Fojnica area in central Bosnia.

Autopsies determined that the cause of death for most of the victims from Donja Jablanica was "suffocation by earth and similar content," as previously announced.

Officials in the Government of the Federation of BiH claimed that the collapse of the quarry was a possible cause of the large number of victims in Donja Jablanica.

The HNK Prosecutor's Office told RSE today that "work on this case is being carried out continuously".

They also stated that they have received the findings and opinion of a court expert in geodesy and that a court expert in geology has been ordered to examine the quarry in Donja Jablanica.

This includes an order to use all available data, including satellite imagery.

"At the beginning of this year, a supplement to the police report with accompanying documentation was submitted, including, among other things, on-site investigation reports from all locations, photographic documentation, coroner's findings, witness statements, and this documentation is subject to analysis by the prosecutor," stated the HNK Prosecutor's Office.

The quarry, from which all levels of government are distancing themselves after the tragedy, began operations in 2002, and documents, which RSE has had access to, show that it apparently had a permit from the FBiH entity authorities until 2008.

Furthermore, it is located on state land managed by a company majority-owned by the cantonal government, while its operation was classified as a "public interest of the municipality" by the municipal authorities in 2006.

Recently, the damaged railway line was restored through donations, while the start of the renovation of residential buildings in Jablanica is still pending.