Firefighter Tomislav Crvelin, who was injured while extinguishing a fire on Kornat, passed away today due to severe burns at the Trauma Clinic in Zagreb, raising the death toll in the largest tragedy in the history of Croatian firefighting to eight.
The condition of the other three firefighters being treated in Zagreb hospitals remains very serious, it was reported to journalists today at Trauma and KB Dubrava. Karlo Ševerdija, who is hospitalized at the Trauma Clinic, remains in critical condition, stated Dr. Hrvoje Tomičić, head of the Burns Department. However, it is encouraging that there has been no significant deterioration in vital functions compared to previous days, so Tomičić announced a new operation for tomorrow. Doctors have taken skin samples from areas where it is preserved and sent them to a tissue culture laboratory in Bratislava. He expects that the first transplants should arrive in two to three weeks. Synthetic skin substitutes have also been ordered from abroad, which should arrive in two to three weeks as well. In response to a journalist’s inquiry about the establishment of a Croatian skin laboratory at the Trauma Clinic in Zagreb, Tomičić reminded that this laboratory has been in the process of establishment for six years, and it lacks about a hundred thousand kuna to begin operations.
