Croatia earthquake: Seven dead as rescuers search rubble for survivors
At least seven people were killed and dozens were injured after a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck central Croatia on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey and Croatian officials.
Emergency crews, assisted by the military, were still digging through the rubble in several towns as night fell and electricity remained out.
The quake, which struck just after noon local time about 30 miles southeast of the capital Zagreb, could be felt across the Balkans. It is the largest quake to hit Croatia this year, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the death toll was expected to rise. And he appealed to private citizens not to go to the worst-hit town, Petrinja, which was near the epicenter.
Pogledajte trenutak kada se zatresla #Petrinja pic.twitter.com/bZQxtGpU3f
— TV N1 Sarajevo (@N1infoSA) December 29, 2020
“At this moment, we don’t know exactly how many people have died. The latest information before the core cabinet meeting was seven people,” Plenkovic said. “We have some indication that this number may be higher, so we’ll wait and see for the police’s official report.”
A girl in the town of Petrinja, a man found inside a collapsed church in the village of Žažina, and five men in the village of Majske Poljane, were among the dead, according to Croatia’s Interior Ministry and local media reports.
“We are doing everything we can to help the citizens of Petrinja and surrounding areas in this dramatic and tragic situation,” Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said in a tweet.
“The destructive earthquake has taken human lives, destroyed homes, and we deeply sympathise with every person and every family that has been harmed.”
