San Francisco Frontiers - Body found after wildfire hits Croatian coastal town

Split police said in a statement they had located the body while searching burned areas on Friday afternoon, with local media reporting that it had been found in the village of Lokva Rogoznica about 30 kilometres (17 miles) south of Split.

Around 2,000 people had been forced to evacuate overnight from villages around the town of Omis as the fire ripped through the surrounding hills, with authorities saying dozens of cars had been destroyed amid reports of homes being burnt.

As access reopened mid-morning, AFP saw the blackened remains of several cars along roads near the town, some ringed by silver puddles of metal that had melted under the intense heat of the fires.

Buildings in the area were also damaged by the blaze, with some nearby structures completely destroyed.

During a visit to the area, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic praised the firefighters' efforts in dangerous conditions.

"This fire spread at lightning speed," he told reporters. "What the firefighters managed to save is truly a miracle."

Plenkovic pointed out that this was a "very densely populated" region, with a township of 15,000, currently bolstered by 12,000 tourists.

Hospital officials said 40 people had been admitted to Split hospital so far, including a German and Polish tourist.

Ten of the victims were in intensive care, suffering from a range of injuries including severe burns.

Despite hundreds of firefighters being deployed, crews were outpaced by a wildfire that was "one of the worst in Croatia's history", the country's fire chief Slavko Tucakovic told national radio.

"It was frightening even to watch. Many houses, cafes, restaurants, cars, and boats that were on dry land were damaged," he said.

- Tourists flee -

Firefighters battled through the night, with local media broadcasting images of crews facing walls of flames.

Hundreds of tourists were among those evacuated to a shelter set up by the Red Cross, Ana Stejskal, the organisation's director in the town of Omis, told national broadcaster HRT.

Several other shelters have been opened in nearby coastal towns of Split and Makarska, the Croatian Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement.

"People have a bed, a shower, a toilet, and food, but it's difficult to predict how long this situation will last," said Tomislav Gojo, director of the Red Cross in Split.

After four Canadair water bombers were deployed at dawn, authorities said the situation was calmer.

But as conditions eased in Omis, the firefighting aircraft was redeployed to another blaze on the Peljesac Peninsula, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) south, where homes were under threat.

Blazes were also burning in other parts of the Balkans as a heatwave brings soaring temperatures and worsens drought conditions.

Emergency crews in Montenegro have been battling fires along the coast for several days, while fires were reported near Albania's capital on Thursday.

Temperature records, already broken this summer, were again beaten earlier this week when nearby Split, about 30 kilometres north of Omis, hit 39.7C.

Q.Nelson--SFF