Once again, everyone was speechless. The third time in the past two months. Mravince, a small settlement below Mosor in the Municipality of Solin, was rocked this time by a tragedy in which a 52-year-old bus driver died. He drove the football players of HNK Sloga Mravince to Biograd, on the road against Primorje. In the last seconds of his life, he managed to slow down the bus and turn onto the stop lane of the highway. Behind him sat the coach of young football players, Ivica Žuljević. He, seeing that the driver was fainting, was the first to come to his aid. They resuscitated the driver, but without success. A life was lost, but his heroic act will be remembered.
They talk quietly about the tragedy that shook the public and what could have happened if it weren’t for the driver’s prudence in Mravince, shaking their heads. The subject is gray, gloomy like a southern-tinged morning. No one wants to say what would have happened if the driver had not been able to control the bus in the last moments, in which there were 25 of them, some soccer players, some people from the team – There were all young guys on the bus. I believe that at that moment most of them were not even aware of what was happening. No one can compensate the family of that driver for their loss, but let them know that they had the honor of having a great man by their side – a resident of Mravinac tells us.
He refuses, he says, to even think about what would have happened if the bus had gone off the road at high speed without control. The bus only “scraped” the guardrail during the stop. While they were waiting for the arrival of the ambulance from Zadar, the club’s physiotherapist was trying to resuscitate the driver. There was also the president of the club’s management, Dr. Zdravko Perko, otherwise the head of the KBC Split Surgery Clinic, who was also going to Biograd for the match by car.
For years, the same company from Stobreč has been cooperating with the club from Mravinec. The driver who drove them to the game that Sunday morning was extremely dear to everyone, everyone was attached to him. – That man remained composed, and all the others who understood what was happening remained composed. Unfortunately, one life was lost, and it could have been an even bigger tragedy. Thanks to everyone, the bus was kept under control – says our interlocutor close to the club.
We tried to contact the coach and the president of the club, but no one was willing to talk about the incident. There was no one in the club itself during the morning. Trainings have been cancelled. They expressed their condolences through social media.- We hereby express our condolences to his family on behalf of the entire Sloga community, and may God grant him eternal peace and thank him for everything! – it is stated among other things in their announcement.
This tragedy is the third in a series that is connected with HNK Sloga Mravince. At the beginning of October there were two tragic events. In an accident not far from Venice, when the bus landed, Marko Bakotić, a football player of the club from Mravinac, was seriously injured, while his pregnant wife, Antonela, lost her life. A few days later, 19-year-old club junior Ante Kljaković-Šantić died in the hospital. He, with two of his peers, landed in Dugopolje in a BMW. All this, the locals tell us, is too much. – I think it’s time to close the circle of misfortunes associated with Sloga – conclude the residents of Mravinaci.