Macedonia raises storm death toll to 22; toddler missing

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonian authorities on Tuesday raised the death toll from a heavy storm that hit the capital Skopje over the weekend to 22, and said a 16-month-old girl remains missing.

Police spokeswoman Natalija Spirova Kordikj said the drowned body of the last victim, a 12-year-old boy, was found late Monday in a bus stop.

The head of Skopje’s Red Cross, Suzana Tuneva, said food, water and clothes were being distributed to about 10,000 people in the worst-affected Skopje districts of Stajkovci, Indzikovo, Ekonomija and Aracinovo. About 3,500 homes have been flooded and many schools have been turned into emergency shelters for flood victims.

A two-week state of emergency has been declared in the afflicted northern parts of Skopje.

On Tuesday, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov decided to donate his salary for this month – 78,000 denars (1,300 euros; $1,400) – to people hit by the storm.