New fire on an island: the Zrce beach evacuated while a fire surrounds a festival in Croatia – World News

According to witnesses, thousands of people were evacuated from a hip hop festival after the fire that declared in a nearby forest.

Pilgrims filmed smoke plumes near the Fresh Island Festival on Zrće Beach on the island of Pag in Croatia.

In a clip, a party animal can be heard by saying "oh my God, it's chaos" while people are fleeing the flames.

The Papaya disco, one of the three festival venues, was evacuated.

In a video of the evacuation, we can hear an announcer say to the crowd: "Leave the club slowly, do not panic, everything is under control, agree?"

"Slow down the exit, do not panic, everything is under control, slow down the exit, we do not want people to be hurt."

Jess Storey, who was at the Papaya nightclub with her friends, told Mirror Online: "The flames sometimes doubled the height of the trees and the cloud of smoke grew very quickly too.

"We spotted it while we were filming videos of the club's VIP elevated section and noticed that it was spreading rapidly across the forest over the bay due to high winds.

"We made the decision to leave immediately.Many people had noticed the fire but were filming it and taking no action, so we decided to go out before there was a mbad rush.

"People of the lower level do not seem to have noticed the flames."

Festivalgoer Kristijan Rovan of Slovenia told Mirror Online that he had been evacuated from the Papaya nightclub, where the American rapper Tyga was scheduled to play later in the morning.

He said: "The fire takes place in a forest near the beach and so far, only the forest is on fire.

"The problem for firefighters is that there is a lot of wind, so the fire spreads quickly."

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Mr Rovan said that at least one of the other festival sites had been evacuated.

The party-goer added that thousands of Britons frequented Fresh Island in Novalja, Pag.

The annual festival, which began in 2012, has become Europe's largest hip-hop festival, attracting the greatest artists of its kind.

A spokesman for the Fresh Island Festival said: "Due to the subsequent fire on the other side of Zrce, we suspended tonight's performance on the instructions of the police and firefighters for safety reasons. .

"The security services escorted fans to the beach and the car park behind the Noa Club and will direct people to shuttles from the top of the Noa Club car park, near the main road, to drive the residents to the hotel. to the city of Novalja.

"We advise everyone to use the buses provided to get back in. The safety of everyone at the festival is our top priority and we appreciate everyone's patience during this time."