Balkans floods: Baby airlifted to safety from flooded home in Bosnia

The Slovenian army took the footage while helping rescue efforts

The Slovenian Armed Forces rescued this baby in Bosnia. (Slovenian Armed Forces/Facebook)

Dramatic footage of a baby being airlifted to safety from a flooded home in Bosnia has emerged.

The infant is shown in a carry cot strapped to a rescue worker dangling from a helicopter.

Swaying in strong winds, the man and child eventually reach the door of the aircraft and climb in to safety.

The Slovenian Armed Forces, who are helping the rescue effort across the Balkans, posted the footage taken on Saturday on their Facebook page.

According to the army’s official blog, crews travelled to the district of Samac in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina to winch stranded people to safety and transport food and equipment to stricken areas.

The post said the baby in the video was three months old and one of two rescued on the day.

A further 16 people were rescued from flooded homes and 34 more, including six children, from a cut-off community centre.

Devastating floods in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia in the past week have forced half a million people out of their homes and led to at least 40 deaths.

Bosnia declared a day of mourning on Tuesday while Serbia said it would hold three days of mourning for flood victims from Wednesday to Friday.

The rotting carcasses of drowned livestock are adding to sanitation problems and there are fears unexploded landmines left over from the Bosnian War could be dislodged.

More than 3,000 landslides were triggered when three months’ worth of rain fell in a day on Sunday, destroying entire villages.

Additional reporting by AP