Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has deployed a specialized fire-fighting vessel to supply water to emergency equipment from a Danube canal where water levels have dropped significantly, stated Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dačić. The Minister personally inspected the vessel’s operations on the Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal, where efforts to extinguish a wildfire in the Deliblato Sands (Deliblatska Peščara) nature reserve have been ongoing for over a week, the Ministry’s press service reported.
“We are witnessing a historic phenomenon; the Danube’s water level is at its lowest point in 100 to 150 years,” the Minister emphasized.
Authorities confirmed that all residential homes in the Deliblato Sands area were successfully protected from the fire, and there have been no civilian casualties. Approximately 320 personnel are involved in the firefighting operation.
Large-scale wildfires were also reported in the Stolovi mountain range and in the country’s southern municipalities. In total, 32 active outdoor fires were burning across the country on Saturday.
Earlier, the wreckage of German warships from World War II emerged in eastern Serbia due to the record drop in the Danube’s water level. The rusted hulls of the vessels, which had remained submerged for decades following 1945, were exposed on the sandy shoals.
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