Dozens injured and thousands evacuated in Croatia wildfire

What the report says

A fast-moving wildfire on Croatia’s Adriatic coast has left at least one person dead and about 40 people injured, according to BBC World News. The fire began near the village of Lokva Rogoznica and spread toward the tourist town of Omis, about 6 km away, forcing roughly 1,200 residents and visitors to evacuate. Officials said the blaze also affected villages near Split and caused damage to homes, cars and woodland.

Croatia’s fire chief, Slavko Tucakovic, said the fire was among the worst in the country’s history. More than 300 firefighters were deployed overnight, but crews sometimes had to pull back as strong winds drove the flames across the area. Emergency shelters were opened in several coastal towns, and officials later said a body had been found in a burned-out zone as search operations continued.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic visited the affected area on Friday and praised emergency crews for their response. BBC reported that the fire spread rapidly through pine forest and hillside terrain, burning around 1,000 hectares in four hours. The incident comes amid a wider European summer of severe wildfires linked to extreme heat and dry conditions, with similar evacuations reported in Greece, France, Germany and parts of the UK.