Residents from Bosnia’s highest village say they have been untouched by the coronavirus pandemic.

There have been zero cases reported among the population in the Bjelasnica mountain settlement of Lukomir, which is elevated almost 1,500 metres high.

The village has seen reduced footfall during the pandemic, but spirits remain unbowed.

“There is no corona(virus) here. We move freely, without face masks and (protective) gloves,” said Vejsil Comor, an 83-year-old villager.

“I joke with (city people), I ask them why they must wear gloves when it is not winter.

“But (they’ve) got used to wearing gloves (as protection against coronavirus), so it would be best if they hold onto that tradition, I think.

“It is important to keep traditions alive, we have a saying here that it is better for a village, or a city, to die than to give up its traditions.

“If I had to go to the city, I too would wear gloves.”

Residents have grown used to leaving their village during the cold winter months, returning this year in March just before Bosnia went into lockdown.

“This is such a beautiful place, I love it.

“I love our traditional clothes, I love this landscape, I love everything here,” said 65-year-old villager Raha Elezovic.

“The coronavirus has not reached us.

“It spread all over the world, even in America, but not in Lukomir.”