At least 36 injured by a virulent forest fire in the tourist town of Omis, Croatia

At least 36 people were injured this Friday, seven of whom are in serious condition, after a forest fire broke out in the tourist city of Omis, which has destroyed dozens of homes and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people.

“This has been one of the worst fires we have faced in recent years,” said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic during a meeting with senior officials of the Split-Dalmatia county from Omis in which he reported that the Government will provide financial aid to repair the damage caused by the flames.

For his part, the country’s president, Zoran Milanovic, has traveled to the area as part of a day that he described as “terrible” and has expressed his gratitude to all those teams that are “fighting” against the fire, which has left 16 people hospitalized for the moment, seven of them in serious condition.

The Croatian Minister of Defense, Ivan Anusic, confirmed this Friday that the Army is prepared to intervene if the Civil Protection headquarters requests it. More than a hundred firefighters have worked on extinguishing efforts throughout the night, according to the Index agency.

The flames spread from the town of Lokva Rogoznica towards the coast and inland. Although at the moment the origin has not been determined, the Croatian authorities are already investigating whether it could have been arson.