The police caught the boat and slashed it with a knife

The respondent is a Syrian man and on the 25th of June 2025  travelled with a transit group that consisted of approximately 15 people and included a family from Turkey with a child who was about 16 years old. He described that the group were near Slavonski Brod (45°04'14.2"N 18°10'36.3"E) on the Bosnian side of the Sava river,  in the middle of the night.  The group were crossing the river in a small boat, with half the group already having crossed first, and the other group waiting to go second. 

When the respondent was crossing in the boat, a white speedboat came towards them on the river. He said he was unable to identify the boat and the uniform of what he believed were Croatian officers, as he was initially blinded by the light on their boat. He explained that the people on the boat that he identifies as ‘officers’ fired a gunshot into the air. The respondent said he managed to jump out of the boat and ran back towards the Bosnian riverbank, as it was not a deep section of the river.

Behind him, he said the police would have caught the boat and slashed it with a knife.

According to what he could understand during the incident, he believes that the police apprehended the Turkish family, including the minor. However, he does not know what happened to them after. He said the officers followed him as he ran away, but he managed to get to the forest and escape them. He then stayed and slept in the forest for 3 nights, hiding and afraid that he might be found.