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Red-faced staff at a luxury hotel had to admit that dozens of passports belonging to Israeli tourists ended up being accidentally thrown into a rubbish bin.
The incident happened at the five-star Hills Hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 15th August, when 47 Israeli guests discovered their passports were missing as they tried to check out.
When the group asked for their documents back, which had been handed over as a standard procedure for a large group booking, staff were unable to find them.
CCTV footage later showed a bag containing the passports slipping off the reception desk and toppling into a bin without anyone noticing.
In the video, the bag falls straight into the trash can next to the reception desk. Other rubbish was later thrown on top, hiding the passports from view.
Hotel owner Saljo Mrkulic explained that the passports had been kept together in a bag because it was a group.
He said nobody realised the bag had fallen, and he denied claims that staff had deliberately discarded the documents.
The Hills Hotel issued a statement saying security camera recordings confirmed the passports had fallen into the bin by accident, and rejected reports that they had been deliberately thrown away.
The Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the tourists had to remain in Sarajevo for several extra days while new travel documents were arranged.
The Israeli Embassy in Belgrade issued replacement passports, which allowed the group to leave Sarajevo on 19th August and fly home to Tel Aviv.
Director Zarko Laketa of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs described the loss of the documents as an "unfortunate set of circumstances" and said services reacted immediately to solve the problem.
Authorities said they continue to provide assistance to foreign nationals in line with domestic law and international standards.
(Mike Leidig / newsX)
Byline Journalist: Mike Leidig
Byline Sub editor: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Spotter: Aloysius Fernandes
Byline Commisioning Editor: Aloysius Fernandes
Byline Senior Writer: Mike Leidig
Byline Picture Editor: Zorica Stojkovik
Byline Video Editor: Aloysius Fernandes
Byline Copychecker: Dushko Kochoski
Byline Illustrator: Dushko Kochoski
Byline News Editor: Mike Leidig
Geography: Sarajevo
Subject: K1, VP, Humans, Society, Immigration
T4 Editor Story Rating: 6
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 6
T4 Total rating: 6
