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| Updated: 01-Aug-2007 | Exercises |
| Eng. / Fr. | Exercise "Idassa 2007" Exercise diary
21 May - The exercise scenario is grim: a powerful earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale has hit Zadar County, Croatia, where a high-profile international charity music festival is taking place. The initial death toll of the earthquake is estimated at eleven, however, many others are feared injured and trapped under the rubble. Approximately forty people are reported missing. National and international rescue teams have initiated a search and rescue operation. 87 persons evacuated from burning building
Tragically, the aftershocks from the Bokanjc earthquake also caused damage in the industrial port of Gaženica. Concrete blocks fell from buildings crushing cars underneath and the third floor of a local plastics factory caught fire after hydrogen-flouride tanks stored there exploded. The first to arrive on the scene was the Zadar Fire Department and its first aid units. Additional medical assistance was given by Red Cross teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Also a Swedish decontamination team and a Finnish high-rise team assisted in the evacuation of 87 casualties from the burning building before the third floor collapsed. While the plastic factory in Gaženica was still burning, another incident occurred in the harbor. Locals reported a “strange smell” coming from a chemical tank in the vicinity of the Gaženica harbour. Local fire department units responded quickly and found that the smell came from a burning styrene tank resulting in toxic gas escaping from the tank. Bad news never travels alone - a ship docked nearby - with some 20 000 litres of gasoline onboard - has now caught fire, and the leaked gas is slowly but surely seeping into the sea in its direction. Exercise Idassa 2007 has begun. I will be keeping you posted on our multinational “rescue effort”. |
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