Croatia sent troops to clear rubble in Zagreb after the capital was struck by a series of powerful tremors. The authorities told people to observe social distancing due to the pandemic after initially calling on others to help.
Army personnel began working to remove rubble from the city streets hours after Zagreb was rocked by an earthquake on Sunday morning. The troops were also deployed to assist patients in the city’s major hospitals, the Defense Ministry said.
Hrvatska vojska pomaže gradu Zagrebu u sanaciji posljedica najsnažnijeg potresa. Pripadnici Hrvatske vojske su angažirani u užem centru Zagreba i pomažu bolesnicima u bolnici u Petrovoj i u Infektivnoj bolnici Dr. Fran Mihaljević. @VladaRH@RavnateljstvoCZ@wwwzagrebhrpic.twitter.com/azstZpWXXX
Many residents have earlier fled their homes after being frightened by the tremors and sirens. Officials have been urging them to self-quarantine in order to slow down the spread of the deadly Covid-19 disease. Immediately after the earthquake happened, Zagreb’s head of emergency services, Pavle Kalnic, asked people to help their older neighbors.
The government later gave an opposite instruction, asking residents to maintain distance from each other. “This was the strongest earthquake in Zagreb in the last 140 years, but there is no need to panic… Regardless of the situation, once again we stress the importance of keeping distance [from each other] and following the rules against Covid-19,” Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters.
“The situation is contradictory, we invited people to stay at home to avoid spreading… the coronavirus, and now we are advising them to leave their homes,” Plenkovic admitted.
