BELGRADE, January 5 Barge under the flag of Germany with 1 thousand tons of nitrogen fertilizer crashed into a bridge on the border between Serbia and Croatia and sank in the Danube, Radio and Television of Serbia reported.
The tug Antonia, flying a German flag, was pushing two barges with nitrogen fertilizers along the Danube from the city of Linz in Austria to the Serbian Smederevo. Around midnight (2.00 Moscow time), one barge hit a bridge support near the Serbian city of Backa Palanka and the city of Ilok on the river border with Croatia.
“As a result of a collision with the bridge, the barge Lola 5 received a hole and sank, there were no casualties. Traffic on the bridge was suspended. The tugboat Antonia is in the river port of Bačka Palanka,” the Deputy Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia told national TV Predrag Petrovic.
The police, the prosecutor's office, and the environmental inspectorate are working at the scene, and water samples have been taken. The damage caused to the bridge and the danger to the environment are being established. Croatia has closed the Ilok checkpoint on its side of the bridge.