1 of 3 | The remains of the fire-damaged Ivanovic nursing home in Belgrade, Serbia, show the extent of the fire that killed eight people and injured seven others early Monday morning. Photo by Andrej Cukic/EPA-EFE
Jan. 20 (UPI) — Eight residents died and seven others were injured by an early-morning fire at a nursing home in Belgrade, Serbia, that local police suspect was started by one of the residents.
The fire broke out at 3:30 a.m. local time at the nursing home in the rural Barajevo area of Belgrade and spread quickly before firefighters could put out the conflagration, the Serbian Times reported.
First-responders received a call reporting the fire at 3:32 a.m., but the fire was blazing when firefighters arrived at the nursing home.
Thirteen residents were evacuated from the Ivanovic Nursing Home, which had a valid license and fully complied with fire safety requirements, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs Nemanja Starovic told Serbian media.
The evacuated residents are being housed in emergency accommodations, Starovic said.
He said the seven residents harmed by the fire and its smoke are being treated at the Military Medical Academy and the Emergency Center for treatment.
Local authorities have reason to believe one of the deceased residents intentionally set the deadly fire.
“An autopsy of the fire victims has been ordered, and all the circumstances of this care are being determined, after which [the prosecutor’s office] in Belgrade will decide on further steps,” chief public prosecutor Nenad Stefanovic told the Serbian Times.
The nursing home housed 30 residents when the fire occurred and destroyed more than a third of the facility that is located in a rural area far from the center of Belgrade.