Bodies of two dead men were found in the river Mreznica near Karlovac, local police reported on Monday. The bodies were found while police were searching for a migrant man who had traveled with a group of Gambians and Senegalese migrants and was reported missing.

According to a police press release issued on Monday, a phone call was received on Saturday evening requesting police assistance in searching for a man who went missing and was believed to have drowned in the area.

Even before the call came in, local police had discovered group of eight illegal migrants at the village of Svojici, originally from Gambia and Senegal. One of them was reportedly in very poor condition and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

By interviewing other men from the group, the police learned that another man from that group had accidentally fallen in the nearby Mreznica river and that he was thought to have drowned. Upon inspection of the river bank, a body was found in the river at Svojici. Another drowned body was found at the village of Donje Dubrave.

The two drowned men are thought to be illegal migrants. Croatia is on the so-called Balkan route used by migrants mainly from African and Middle Eastern countries to reach wealthier countries in Western Europe.