Whilst searching for the missing Cessna, Hrvoje Kamenjarin, a member of the special police from Split, was injured on Velebit mountain. Today at around 6:15pm he was transferred to the plateau below the Vagan peak, where he was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Zadar, writes Slobodna Dalmacija.

Surprise avalanche

“Hrvoje Kamenjarin, who is an excellent alpinist, a participant in two trips to the Himalayas and the head of one team that was searching an area where the plane fell, tried to reach the highest point where the aircraft remains were. At that moment an avalanche started which hit him and injured him. The others immediately went to help him, they got him out of the avalanche, offered him first aid, and after one and a half hours they carried him in very hard conditions to a vehicle. The vehicle came down Velebit mountain where an ambulance was waiting, which transferred him to Zadar’s hospital. He injured his thigh bone. The other members of the special police are well and uninjured” said the commander of the special police Zdravko Janjic for Slobodna Dalmacija.

Search stops until tomorrow

Saving the injured police officer was carried out under very hard conditions with strong snow, which had been falling for hours on Velebit. After the avalanche and injury, the search was stopped in order to offer him help.

“Searching the terrain where the Cessna fell has been stopped, and members of the special police focused on saving their colleague. Tomorrow they will continue with a detailed search of the terrain, and there is no new information about the circumstances of the accident” said Janjic.