Investigation into the deaths of 19 people in flash floods in Donja Jablanica reopened

(Patria) - The Special Department for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime of the Federal Prosecutor's Office (POSKOK) is reopening an investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of 19 people in flash floods in Donja Jablanica in October 2024, it was confirmed today to Radio Free Europe (RSE).

POSKOK could not confirm how many people are included in the new investigation.

"We had to repeat the investigative actions for procedural validity, and new ones have been undertaken, and work is already underway on that.

Due to certain irregularities found, and in order to legally gather evidence, a decision was made to annul the order for conducting the investigation by the HNK Prosecutor's Office," POSKOK told RSE.

Previously, on March 12, 2026, the Chief Cantonal Prosecutor of the HNK Prosecutor's Office, in the "Donja Jablanica" case, made a decision to annul, for procedural reasons, the previously issued order for conducting the investigation by the Konjic Regional Prosecutor's Office, and returned the case to the previous stage of the procedure.

POSKOK had previously returned the case to the Prosecutor's Office of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton - Konjic Regional Prosecutor's Office.

In their statement at the time, they stated that during the harmonization of documentation carried out by employees of the Special Department, "certain technical deficiencies were noticed in the file that need to be rectified, a new, corrected list of files compiled, sorted, and the entire case submitted to the Special Department for re-decision."

After flash floods hit Donja Jablanica on the night of October 4, 2024, the HNK Prosecutor's Office opened a case.

In previous statements, that institution stated that the investigation included the company "Sani," which managed a nearby quarry, from which stones fell onto houses, and that the role of inspections and other competent services was being examined.

The initial investigation, in addition to the legal entity - the company "Sani," also involved four individuals.

The Jablanica area suffered the most from the flash floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of October 2024, leaving 27 victims and millions in damages.