Firefighters perish in Croatia

Police have announced that six firemen have died and fourteen have been injured as firesurrounded them on the island of Kornati. The Croatian Interior Ministry has announced that five of the injured firemen are still in a critical condition. The tragedy took place when the goup of firemen were encircled by the blaze, which had spread unexpectedly because of high winds. Firefighters perish in Croatia Six of them died at the scene, while the seven injured men were rescued by helicopter and transferred to Zadar. Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader expressed his condolences following the deaths and called for an urgent investigation into the accident. According to the AP agency, the fire on Kornati is still raging. According to this morning’s initial media reports, of the seven injured firemen, two had received minor burns and had been kept in for treatment in Zadar, while the remaining five had been burnt severely, and had been transferred to Zagreb. Three of them were operated on at the Traumatology Hospital in Zagreb, and hospital director Drasko Boljkovac told journalists this morning that the three young men had suffered very severe third and fourth degree burns, on over ninety to one hundred percent of their bodies, and that despite urgent surgery it was still unclear whether or not they would pull through. The other two injured men were transferred to Dubrava Hospital, and were also in a critical condition. According to the head of the surgical department Toni Kolak, doctors were fighting for their lives. Croatian Police Chief Marijan Benko confirmed today that an investigation was under way not only into the causes of the fire, but also the circumstances that had led to the firemens’ deaths. Certain quarters of the electronic media have reported that overnight and today, eight people have been taken into custody at Sibenik Police Station, on suspicion of arson. The Croatian public has been stunned by the tragedy, and Stipe Bozic, an experienced mountaineer from the Gorska Mountain Rescue Service, who himself helped rescue the firemen, told the press that it was not clear why the team of firefighters had been sent to an unpopulated area covered in grassland, at a time when the situation was very unpredictable given the high winds. Bozic said that in this case it was clear that it had simply been an unfortunate sequence of events, although he added that it was necessary to find out who was responsible for sending the firemen to the island.

Firefighters perish in Croatia

Six of them died at the scene, while the seven injured men were rescued by helicopter and transferred to Zadar.

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader expressed his condolences following the deaths and called for an urgent investigation into the accident. According to the AP agency, the fire on Kornati is still raging.

According to this morning’s initial media reports, of the seven injured firemen, two had received minor burns and had been kept in for treatment in Zadar, while the remaining five had been burnt severely, and had been transferred to Zagreb.

Three of them were operated on at the Traumatology Hospital in Zagreb, and hospital director Draško Boljkovac told journalists this morning that the three young men had suffered very severe third and fourth degree burns, on over ninety to one hundred percent of their bodies, and that despite urgent surgery it was still unclear whether or not they would pull through.

The other two injured men were transferred to Dubrava Hospital, and were also in a critical condition. According to the head of the surgical department Toni Kolak, doctors were fighting for their lives.

Croatian Police Chief Marijan Benko confirmed today that an investigation was under way not only into the causes of the fire, but also the circumstances that had led to the firemens’ deaths.

Certain quarters of the electronic media have reported that overnight and today, eight people have been taken into custody at Šibenik Police Station, on suspicion of arson.

The Croatian public has been stunned by the tragedy, and Stipe Božić, an experienced mountaineer from the Gorska Mountain Rescue Service, who himself helped rescue the firemen, told the press that it was not clear why the team of firefighters had been sent to an unpopulated area covered in grassland, at a time when the situation was very unpredictable given the high winds.

Božić said that in this case it was clear that it had simply been an unfortunate sequence of events, although he added that it was necessary to find out who was responsible for sending the firemen to the island.