Omis Fire Claims Fifth Victim at Split Hospital
A man born in 1956 has died at the Split University Hospital Centre, bringing the Omis fire death toll to five, among them Dragana Antesevic of Kotor Varos.
A fifth victim of the Omis fire has died in a Split hospital. Among the earlier victims is Dragana Antesevic (34) of Kotor Varos in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first to lose her life in the blaze that broke out on August 13 at about 8 p.m. in woodland beside the road near Lokva Rogoznica. The consequences of that evening, then, have not ended even two months later.
The hospital informed the public of the death in a statement, saying the patient was a man born in 1956:
“Despite all the intensive treatment measures taken and the efforts of the medical team, another person has died at the Split hospital, a man (born 1956) from injuries sustained in the fire in the Omis area.”
KBC Split added that one female patient is still being treated in the intensive care unit and that her condition is stable. It also sent a message to the family of the man who died: “We express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased patient.”
Who died in the Omis fire?
In the order in which they died, the list of victims now reads:
- Dragana Antesevic (34) of Kotor Varos, the first victim
- Drago Lelas, a retired firefighter, who died on August 28 in the Split hospital from severe injuries
- Katica Nikolic (58), who died in the same hospital after a weeks-long fight for her life
- a woman of about 41, who died on October 6
- a man born in 1956, whose death was announced now
Driven by strong wind, the fire spread across Stanici toward Nemira, Brzet, Borak and Omis, and covered a strip about 23 kilometers long and about a kilometer and a half wide.
How did a rescuer from Stanici save about 60 people?
Alongside the news of the fifth victim came word of a man who spent that evening rescuing others. Milan Balic of Stanici near Omis received the Croatian Grand Safety Award in the category “Brave Act in the Service of Safety.” The Croatian Security Managers Association presented it to him on Wednesday evening, October 14, at the Hotel Ambasador in Opatija, during the 20th Conference of Croatian Security Managers.
During the fire, Balic used two boats to evacuate about 60 people, among them children, elderly people and the injured: he tied the smaller boat to the larger one and towed it toward Omis harbor. As he told RTL Danas in August, as reported by Index.hr, this is how he split up the passengers: “I put the older men in the small boat, and the women, children and elderly people in the big one.”
The ordeal did not end at the harbor. As the boats came in to dock, the smaller one capsized and the passengers ended up in the water, where the army and special police pulled them out. Balic described it this way:
“Everyone fell into the sea. Luckily, the army and special police were there, and they helped us pull them all out.”
At the ceremony, according to Index.hr, he modestly said that he had simply happened to be at the spot when the fire broke out and that the credit also belongs to the many others who took part in the rescue.
