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Zagreb - The largest tragedy in Croatia's firefighting history turned political Monday as angry families of the dozen firefighters who died in an island blaze accused authorities of sweeping the truth under the carpet. "We ... the families of the deceased ... will persist in the demand for the resignation of the prime minister," Branka Sevrdija, the mother of one of the victims, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The escalation of a national tragedy into a political scandal was the last thing that Prime Minister Ivo Sanader - already facing a popularity slump - wanted ahead of parliamentary polls in November.

Six firemen died two weeks ago on Kornat, an island off central Croatian Adriatic coast, after being sent to put out a fire. Six others succumbed to their horrific injuries.

Ante Mikulin, 22, died Sunday to become the latest and probably the final victim of the Kornat blaze, as the sole remining survivor from the dispatched unit appears to be recovering.

Along with others who died in the days after the fire, he had severe burns covering more than 60 per cent of his skin, as well as internal injuries from inhalation of the heated air.

According to police, the firefighters were caught in a violent fire tornado, in which the blaze spreads at a speed of 20 metres per second - or 70 kilometres per hour.

Fanned by the eruptive wind, the fire becomes so hot under the conditions that the firefighters were almost instantly carbonized, police experts said. Some of the victims were interred lying on their side because their bodies could not be straightened out.

The firefighting mission was clearly bungled, authorities effectively admitted. The regional chief was arrested and was being questioned as to why rescue was late and why he violated rules by sending two underage men and a civilian to a dangerous location.

But families of the deceased are dissatisfied and are disputing the official version and are accusing authorities of hiding crucial details which contributed to the virtual massacre.

One of their theories is that the firefighting unit was doused by fuel dumped from the helicopter sent to rescue them from the spreading blaze. The gasoline was allegedly spilled either through mechanical failure or through human error.

A regional weekly, the Novi Tijednik, quoted sources close to the investigation as saying that the military Mi-8 MTV-1 aircraft, equipped with a water tank for firefighting, may have been damaged in the rescue mission and dumped fuel along with water.

It may have even fanned the fire while hovering above the unit trapped by the fire, the source said.

Suspicions were also prodded by Croatia's refusal to take up the offer of the renowned US criminal forensics expert, Henry Lee, who offered to visit the scene, as well as the inability of Croatian media to uncover the identity of the helicopter pilot.

"We understand that something horrible has happened and that truth is being withheld. Rescuers who went there told us that they couldn't have been saved even if help came much sooner," Sevrdija said.

"They burned in a second and that couldn't have been from grass alone - they were either doused by fuel or some left-behind ordnance was on the island. We don't know and the government is keeping it secret," she added.

The families are particularly embittered because the young firefighters were sent to the scene, without full equipment, to fight a blaze which had not threatened houses.

"Had my son died aged 18 while defending a settlement, it would have been easier, but that there was a desert," Sevrdija said. The families visited the scene of the fire on Sunday and are conducting their own investigation, parallel to the official effort.