Where ice-breakers can't go, sappers move in to clear Polish river

For over a week now, a battle has been waged with a build-up of ice on the river Vistula as rising water poses a risk of flooding.

Ice-breakers on the river Vistula in Płock, north-west of Warsaw, on Wednesday.

Photo: PAP/Szymon Łabiński

The threat is especially acute in the Włocławek reservoir area, and upriver towards Płock and Kępa Polska, north-west of Warsaw.

The volume of rapidly melting snow is also causing alarm in other parts of Poland.