British tourists have been forced to flee a wildfire-stricken Croatian island on little boats after hotel staff abandoned them.
Tourists were pushed into the sea by a wildfire after receiving no help from hotel staff or holiday organiser TUI on the island of Brac, according to holidaymakers.
A British man has told of how guests at the Gava Waterman Milna Resort leapt into the sea to escape a fire ripping through the island.
They were only saved after a flotilla of around 50 local boats came and picked up the stranded holidaymakers.
Visitors were told at 10pm local time that the fire posed no danger and that they should go back to their rooms.
They were even told to ‘relax with a drink’ as flames surrounded the resort.
But just five minutes after the announcement a British tourist, Josh Robbins, went outside to see the fire was only 20ft away from the hotel.
With nowhere else to go, Mr Robbins and his fiancée headed to the beach.
British tourists have been forced to flee a wildfire-stricken Croatian island on little boats after hotel staff abandoned them
Tourists were forced towards the beach as the fire surrounded their hotel resort
Tourists were pushed into the sea by a wildfire after receiving no help from hotel staff or holiday organiser TUI
He claims that staff, including the reception, had fled by this point and that no one had an evacuation route or a plan for them.
Mr Robbins, 26, told The Sun: ‘It was terrifying.
‘We were left to run for our lives as a wall of flames closed in as we were showered by burning embers.
‘If we had stayed put as we were, people would have died and we were only saved by the little boats – it was like Dunkirk.’
Nearly 700 people were evacuated from the Croatian island of Brac on Sunday after a wildfire tore through the holiday destination.
Hundreds of firefighters were reportedly dispatched to help tackle the flames while four firefighting planes operated in the area.
Croatian authorities said that there were no more ‘open flames’ on the island.
The fires are believed to have been triggered by lightning strikes on Thursday. The fire then spread towards Milna in the east of Brac on Friday.
Tourists were only saved after a flotilla of around 50 local boats came and picked up the stranded holidaymakers
A British man has told of how guests at the Gava Waterman Milna Resort leapt into the sea to escape a fire ripping through the island
Despite ash raining down on holidaymakers at the resort, staff insisted that the hotel was safe on Saturday night
Around a third of the guests at the Gava Waterman resort were British.
Despite ash raining down on holidaymakers at the resort, staff insisted that the hotel was safe on Saturday night.
Power was then cut to the entire resort at 9.35pm as panicked tourists began to flee.
But staff had already fled in their cars and the main doors were locked shut – leaving an elderly couple stuck inside the building.
Mr Robbins said: ‘The staff had gone and we couldn’t get out because the sliding glass doors were locked shut – we thought we were going to die.
‘There were dozens of people all trying to get out and we eventually had to prise the doors open to escape.
‘The reception staff had driven off down the resort’s narrow access road but their cars had blocked the route stopping fire appliances reaching us.
‘We realised fire was about to engulf the hotel and decided to run down the path to the wooden dock to the sea to escape.’
A firefighting plane drops water on a wildfire near the town of Milna on the island of Brac, Croatia
Members of the Croatian firefighting service work at the site of a wildfire near the town of Milna
Tourists scrambled to the sea to escape the advancing flames and some leapt into the ocean to avoid getting burnt.
Locals in boats miraculously saved the tourists on the beach at around 11pm. Holiday provider TUI only sent an evacuation message at around 11.30pm, according to Mr Robbins.
British tourist Lorraine Pearce wrote on Facebook: ‘There was no evacuation plan – we all just ran.
‘A couple of guests operated the hoses to keep the path to the beach clear for guests to escape… absolute heroes.
‘Local people were amazing, giving us clothes and blankets offering us rooms to stay. Also local people coming out on their boats. Thank you so much.
‘All guests worked together and we have made friends for life through this.
‘But why did we not get an alarm until we were in rescue boats?’
The rescued British tourists were on a £1,800 a week all-inclusive TUI package holiday to the resort.
They were eventually transferred to the coastal city of Split and no injuries were reported.
A spokesman for TUI said: ‘We know this will have been a distressing experience for those affected by the wildfire on the island of Brac.
‘The safety of our customers is our highest priority and our local teams have been supporting those impacted and working closely with the hotel and local authorities.’
