More than 200,000 homes without power in Bosnia after Balkan snowstorm

More than 200,000 homes across Bosnia and Herzegovina were without electricity for a second day on Wednesday, authorities said, after a snowstorm the day before caused widespread disruption across several Balkan countries.

Mainly in northwestern and central Bosnia, towns and villages suffered ongoing power outages, the country's two power utilities said.

The snowfall had stopped on Wednesday, when the Catholic population was celebrating Christmas, but many roads remained blocked, cutting off access to towns and villages.

"Our teams are on site all the time, doing everything in their power," Jelena Markovic, spokesperson for the Elektroprenos BiH distribution company, said. Most transmission lines were in inaccessible areas, she said.

In neighbouring Croatia, emergency crews said they rescued 48 people who had been buried in the snow in the central Lika region.

In Slovenia, authorities said strong winds and snow made it impossible for a rescue helicopter to reach a Hungarian hiker who has been stranded in the Alps since Sunday.

As many as 10,000 homes were also without electricity for much of Wednesday in western Serbia, the Tanjug news agency quoted Ivan Spajic, the head of the department for emergencies in the town of Sabac as saying, although the issue was mostly restored by late in the day.