August 14, 2019 – More details emerge about yesterday’s fatal tragedy off Hvar, as the investigation moves from the restaurant to the chartered yacht.
As reported on TCN yesterday, a tourist was found dead on a boat and five other people were helicoptered to Split with a serious bout of what was initially suspected as food poisoning.
While the full story is yet to emerge, more details are available. The dead man has been named as 57-year-old Italian businessman, Eugenio Vinci.
Five other people from the boat were helicoptered to hospital, including two children, where they underwent emergency treatment for poisoning. The adults are now out of danger, but the two children remain in intensive care.
A press conference later this morning will bring an update on the health situation.
Initial reports linked the death and illnesses with a meal of mussels at a leading Hvar restaurant. The story seemed a convenient explanation of the tragedy, but it immediately gave rise to certain questions. Only two of the guests had mussels at the meal and yet six became ill. The group apparently left the restaurant at 21:30, setting sail from Hvar the following morning, and it was only at 10am that the distress call came when Vinci’s body was discovered.
As a precaution, Hvar health inspectors and police closed the restaurant in question, only to give it a clean bill of health. The restaurant reopened last night.
Attention is now turning to the charter boat, based in Omis, with both Croatian and Italian media focused on possible carbon monoxide poisoning from a leak from the boat’s generator. The media report that Vinci lost consciousness from the fumes in the toilet and banged his head as he fell.
This is an evolving story, and we will bring you more on the tragedy later today as more details emerge.
