After more than an hour of halted traffic on the Orebić-Korčula line, the bus was only freed once all luggage was removed. Due to the blockade, a ferry carrying an ambulance vehicle was unable to dock.
A bus carrying Polish high school students got stuck on the loading ramp of the ferry on the Orebić-Korčula line on August 8, 2026, causing a complete traffic collapse that lasted over an hour. Dramatic scenes of passengers trying to free the vehicle were captured in footage provided to the media by an eyewitness, an Index reader.
The ferry Ilok was scheduled to depart at 2 PM, but the bus became wedged in such a way that it could neither board nor disembark. According to the Index reader who sent the footage, the ferry captain attempted to free the vehicle by maneuvering, but to no avail. Jadrolinija staff then tried using snow chains to solve the problem, but that method also proved unsuccessful.
The footage shows passengers outside pushing and shaking the double-decker bus, desperately trying to move it. The bus was finally freed only after all luggage was removed from it. Traffic was fully restored around 3:15 PM.
Due to the blockade, the ferry coming from the opposite direction could not dock. The Index reader claims that an ambulance vehicle was on board. "The ferry with the ambulance vehicle could not dock," Index reports the eyewitness's words. Meanwhile, on the shore in Korčula, another ambulance vehicle was waiting. The ferry line was disrupted in both directions, and traffic queues formed in both Orebić and Korčula.
Index has sent inquiries about the circumstances of the incident to Jadrolinija, the police, emergency medical services, and the Harbor Master's Office, and will publish their responses at a later time.
