5 firefighters Reportedly die battling fire at an island in Croatia

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Five firefighters died and 14 were injured Thursday evening as they were encircled by a forest fire on Croatia's central island of Kornati, the state-run news agency HINA and other local media reported. Police in the nearby city of Sibenik only confirmed that 14 firefighters were injured at the island of Kornat and there was no immediate official confirmation of the deaths, which were reported by HINA, the state-run Croatian television and two other TV channels. Zeljko Sosa, a local firefighting official, said the wind apparently suddenly changed its course, spreading the fire that then trapped the firefighters inside the firing circle. Private TV RTL said all five dead were members of the local volunteering firefighting brigade and that they were in their 20s.