Two migrants found dead in Croatian forest

ZAGREB: Two migrants thought to have sneaked into EU member Croatia from neighbouring Bosnia were found dead on Sunday in a forest some 90 kilometres from the border, Croatian police said.

"Twelve people were found of whom two were dead," police spokeswoman Senka Staroveski told reporters, adding that they were found early on Sunday in a wood near the town of Dreznica.

She did not provide further details such as the migrants’ age, nationality or the cause of death, saying only that an investigation was under way. Bosnian authorities estimate that some 4,000 migrants and refugees are currently in Bosnia, mainly in the towns of Bihac and Velika Kladusa, both near the Croatian border, hoping to enter the EU along the so-called "Balkans Route".

Many have been camping out in parks or abandoned buildings, while the Red Cross and local volunteers have been providing meals and other basic services.

They are among more than 10,000 migrants who have entered the poor Balkan country illegally since January, according to the latest government figures.

According to a tally by the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, more than 80 migrants have died -- mainly by drowning, freezing to death or in road accidents -- since the start of the year along the Balkans Route originating in Turkey.

Anger has been mounting in Bihac over the government’s poor management of the influx. On Friday, the EU said it would give Bosnia six million euros to cope with the new arrivals. The aid comes on top of 1.5 million euros already granted in June.