At least one person died and around 40 were injured after a fast-moving wildfire swept through residential areas on Croatia's Adriatic coast, forcing approximately 1,200 residents and tourists to evacuate. Ten of the injured were receiving intensive care, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said.
The fire started near Lokva Rogoznica on Thursday evening and advanced towards the tourist town of Omis, about six kilometres away. Strong winds pushed the flames through pine-covered hills and nearby settlements, damaging homes and cars in the area around Split.
Officials said the blaze burned about 1,000 hectares in four hours. More than 300 firefighters were deployed during the night, but crews sometimes had to withdraw as the fire moved rapidly. Croatia's fire chief, Slavko Tucakovic, described the incident as one of the most severe wildfires in the country's history.
Emergency shelters opened in several coastal towns while evacuations continued overnight. Some people escaped by entering the sea from boats, according to the report. Video shared online showed heavy smoke and large flames moving through vegetation, but such footage did not establish the full extent of damage across the affected zone.
Emergency workers found a body in a burned area on Friday as searches continued. The report did not identify the victim or establish the circumstances of the death. Authorities had also not provided a final property-loss assessment.
Plenkovic visited the area later on Friday and said the combination of rapid spread and gale-force winds had created extreme conditions. Viseslav Pesic, commander of the Omis Volunteer Fire Department, said some people abandoned vehicles in the fire zone, obstructing routes needed by emergency crews.
The Croatian fire was part of a wider period of wildfire emergencies in Europe during extreme heat and dry weather. In Greece, more than 200 people were evacuated by boat from a beach resort in Agios Vasileios. A fire in France's Landes region forced more than 500 residents to leave their homes, while more than 2,000 people were evacuated from Gey in western Germany as flames approached the village.
England and Wales also issued an alert to millions of people warning of a very high wildfire risk as firefighters tackled several incidents in the West Midlands. Those separate emergencies provided continental context but were not directly linked to the ignition of the Croatian blaze.
For communities near Omis, the immediate priorities were accounting for residents, treating the injured and searching burned areas while firefighters worked to contain the remaining threat. The combination of wind, dry vegetation and coastal tourism created a particularly difficult evacuation environment, reflected in the large number moved to safety within hours.
