BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Big chunks of melting ice moving on the Danube River have damaged hundreds of small boats and several restaurants located on rafts, officials said today.
The thick ice, which had closed hundreds of miles of Europe’s busy waterway during the region’s recent cold snap, started moving Sunday afternoon because of rising temperatures.
The 1,777- mile- long river flows through nine countries and is vital for transport, power and industry. But the ice nearly totally blocked it from Austria to the Black Sea.
As ice floes up to 1.6 feet thick began to break up in the Belgrade area, hundreds of parked boats crashed into each other and several barges were swept away, officials said.
One raft restaurant sank and several others were damaged as they broke away from the shore.
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