At least one person has died and around 40 others have been injured after a severe wildfire tore through communities on Croatia's coastline from Thursday evening into Friday morning.
The blaze, which Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic described as spreading at "lightning speed" with "gale-force winds", broke out near the village of Lokva Rogoznica on Thursday evening. Fanned by strong winds, it quickly advanced towards the nearby tourist town of Omis, approximately 7 kilometres away.
Around 1,200 residents and tourists were evacuated from affected areas, with 10 individuals reportedly in intensive care in hospital. Croatian fire chief Slavko Tucakovic characterised the incident as "one of the worst" blazes in the country's history.
Villages situated near the Adriatic city of Split were also impacted as the fire coursed through pine forest-lined hillsides. Officials confirmed that the firestorm consumed 1,000 hectares in just four hours, causing extensive damage to homes and cars in its path.
More than 300 firefighters were deployed overnight on Thursday to tackle the inferno, with crews occasionally forced to retreat due to the rapid advancement of the flames. Viseslav Pesic, Commander of the Omis Volunteer Fire Department, told Reuters that the blaze was so intense that people had abandoned vehicles "directly in the fire zone", impeding emergency crews' access.
Footage shared online depicted thick smoke and huge flames engulfing vegetation, turning the sky a vivid red as stranded residents and tourists observed the unfolding disaster. Some individuals were compelled to jump into the sea from boats to escape the advancing fire.
On Friday, officials confirmed the discovery of a body in a burnt-out area as emergency services continued their search of the affected zones. Emergency shelters were established in several coastal towns to accommodate those displaced by the evacuations.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic visited the affected region later on Friday, where he commended the efforts of emergency crews. He told reporters that what firefighters had managed to save was "truly a miracle" given the challenging conditions.
Croatia is among several European nations currently experiencing devastating wildfires, a consequence of a summer marked by extreme heat and prolonged dry conditions across the continent. Firefighters throughout Europe are facing significant pressure and strained resources as blazes continue to rage.
In Greece, more than 200 people were evacuated by boat from a beach resort in Agios Vasileios due to widespread wildfires. Similarly, over 500 residents were forced to leave their homes in the south-western Landes region of France, near an area previously ravaged by fires.
Further north, more than 2,000 people were evacuated from the village of Gey in western Germany after a forest fire spread towards a community near the Belgian border.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, an emergency wildfire alert was issued to millions of people in England and Wales on Friday, highlighting a "very high risk" of wildfires nationally. Firefighters in the West Midlands are currently battling multiple blazes.
