Brac: Woman, 76, Falls From Boat in Milna Evacuation

Brac, one of the favorite summer destinations for Serbian tourists on the Adriatic coast, went through a dramatic night between September 12 and 13. A wildfire that has been burning for days in the western part of the island moved toward the town of Milna last night, forcing hundreds of people to flee by sea, and an elderly woman fell overboard during the evacuation and is now in critical condition at a hospital in Split. Milna had been saved by this morning, but in the afternoon, around 2:30 PM, a new fire broke out above nearby Bol, just a few kilometers from the existing fire.

Overnight evacuation by sea

The rescue operation was coordinated by the National Center for Coordination of Search and Rescue at Sea in Rijeka and the Split Port Authority, working with the Institute of Emergency Medicine of Split-Dalmatia County. According to a statement from Croatia’s Ministry of the Sea and Transport, the operation began last night, September 12 at 9:56 PM, after a series of reports came in about people trapped on the western side of Brac.

Four rescue boats from the Split Port Authority and its branches in Milna, Hvar and Makarska took part in the operation, along with three vessels from the Maritime and Airport Police, one ship and two smaller vessels from the Croatian Coast Guard, two tugboats from the company Brodospas, two pilot boats, a vessel from the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, two tourist boats and a large number of private boats. Because so many people were fleeing the fire, the Split Port Authority requested the deployment of the Coast Guard vessel Omis shortly after midnight, at 12:30 AM, which took over receiving and sheltering people evacuated from Osibova cove, assisted by two Modrulj class fast boats.

According to the Split Port Authority’s estimate, around 200 people, including children, elderly and infirm residents, were in the danger zone at the height of the emergency. Of those, 185 people were transported by the Port Authority’s own rescue boats. Over the course of the night, until 4 AM this morning, tourist boats evacuated a total of about 700 people, the Rijeka Port Authority reported.

Why the numbers differ

Croatian media did not report identical figures during the morning, which is common in operations still underway. The Index.hr portal reports that 227 people were evacuated overnight and housed in a sports hall in Supetar and a pastoral center in Postira, while more than 400 guests and staff were separately evacuated from the Gava tourist resort. Figures on the forces deployed also differ: Index.hr reports 235 firefighters with 68 vehicles on the ground, while the portal tportal cites more than 280 firefighters and 66 vehicles. Estimates of the burned area vary as well: Index.hr, working from satellite images, put the affected area at 5,600 hectares, while tportal reports more than 3,500 hectares.

Accounts of the injuries also differ. The Kurir news agency’s morning report mentioned two people with minor injuries, while Index.hr, tportal and the Dalmatinski portal report that one of the two injured, an elderly woman, is in critical condition.

Woman falls from boat, family flees on a pedal boat

A 76-year-old woman was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Department of Pulmonary Diseases at Split University Hospital Center (KBC Split) after nearly drowning. According to unofficial information from Croatian media, she fell from a boat during the evacuation as the fire closed in and nearly drowned. KBC Split spokeswoman Kristina Bitanga later confirmed that her condition had been stabilized, although she had earlier in the day been described as critically ill. A 27-year-old man who inhaled smoke was also treated at the hospital and released for home care after an examination.

Foreign tourists also described dramatic scenes during the escape. A British family tried to reach a departing boat on a pedal boat.

It was terrible. We had our baby with us, he’s just a year old. We were in the water, on a pedal boat, trying to reach a boat that was leaving. We were screaming, crying, begging. Thankfully, they stopped and we managed to get on board.

That is how Shelby, a tourist from the United Kingdom, described the ordeal to tportal. Her compatriot John told the same outlet: “It was a matter of life and death. We were evacuated from the Gava hotel.”

More than 400 guests and staff were evacuated from the Gava tourist resort, where the fire reached outbuildings and parts of houses. 45 Hungarian tourists were given special care and housed in the sports hall in Supetar, where they were given hot meals.

Aerial firefighting and a meeting of officials

Four Canadair CL-415 planes and three Air Tractor AT-802 aircraft are taking part in the aerial firefighting effort. The fire is still active around Duboka and Osibova coves, where firefighters continue working to bring it under control, while an additional Canadair worked in the afternoon on the new fire above Bol.

Given the scale of the fire, the Croatian military has also joined the effort, with the Navy vessel Omis, two Modrulj class rubber boats and Air Force support. A meeting on the situation at the fire site was scheduled for the afternoon in Milna, with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Croatian Veterans Tomo Medved, Minister of Tourism Tonci Glavina, chief fire commander Slavko Tucakovic and Split-Dalmatia County Prefect Blazenko Boban expected to attend, along with the heads of all the surrounding municipalities on the island.

Srpske novine reported yesterday that the fire was again slipping out of control and moving toward Milna. The fate of Adriatic resorts increasingly depends on nighttime evacuations by sea during the dry, windy summers of recent years, a pattern also familiar along the stretch of Adriatic coast visited every summer by thousands of tourists from Serbia. The coming hours will show whether the front near Duboka and Osibova can be brought under control before the new fire above Bol places further strain on already exhausted firefighting crews.