Bosnia floods followed by price hikes, thefts and political skirmishes

The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were trying to get on top of the consequences of the recent floods on Tuesday, and apart from destroyed houses, flooded factories, mud-blocked roads and damaged railroads they were also facing frequent thefts and attempts by retailers to make additional profits by increasing prices of food and cleaning items. The authorities of the country's two entities have adopted decisions banning an increase in prices of basic foodstuffs as well as of items for which demand has drastically increased such as brooms, rubber gloves and boots. Citizens have been instructed to report to the authorities any such price hikes. Social networks were swamped with information about reported price increases, but the authorities have not confirmed any mass-scale price hikes. The railway operator of the BiH Federation entity warned on Tuesday that thieves were hampering its efforts to make severely damaged railroads operational again. In the night between Monday and Tuesday, thieves stole 700 metres of power cables on the railroad between Sarajevo and Kakanj which had just been repaired. The power grid collapsed on the railroad and it had to be closed to traffic again. The police were also trying to prevent increasingly frequent robberies of houses whose owners had to be evacuated due to floods or which have been seriously damaged or destroyed in landslides. The police have also warned about fake representatives of humanitarian organisations trying to raise funds for the flood-hit areas.