ZAGREB, Aug 17 (Xinhua) -- Police in Croatia have arrested four individuals for deliberately starting fires at 10 separate locations across Zadar County, authorities announced Monday.
The suspects include three Croatian men, aged 46, 45, and 42, and a 33-year-old foreign woman.
They were arrested on Saturday after local residents reported a suspicious vehicle and individuals setting fires along a roadside. Investigators said that the group pre-planned their actions, using open flames or lighters to ignite blazes in Zadar County on Aug 14 and 15.
The arrests come as Croatia battles an exceptionally destructive wildfire season. A massive blaze near the coastal town of Omis last week, described as one of the worst in the country's history, left over 40 people injured, with several remaining in critical condition.
A body was also recovered from the scorched site. Other significant wildfires have flared up around Zadar and along the Adriatic coast in recent days, with firefighters combating blazes fueled by extreme temperatures, prolonged drought, and gale-force winds.
--NNN-Xinhua