Death toll in retirement home fire rises to 11

A fire at the Tuzla Retirement Home in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina killed 11 people and injured as many as 35 others. It has been called "a disaster of enormous proportions" by the country's Prime Minister Nermin Niksic.

No cause has been established yet for the blaze, which broke out on the seventh floor of the building, where many disabled residents were living, early on Tuesday night. It required the deployment of firefighters from other towns within the Tuzla Canton to bring it under control.

Firefighters, police officers, nursing home employees, medics and residents were among those needing medical treatment, with local media reporting that three were in intensive care, and that several people were being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning at Tuzla University Clinical Center.

Investigations underway

"At this moment, the priority is to provide assistance to the injured and the families of the victims, while expert teams will thoroughly inspect the building to determine the exact cause of the fire and how it spread," Vedran Alidzanovic, chief prosecutor of the cantonal prosecutor's office of the Tuzla Canton, was quoted as saying by national public broadcasting outlet BHRT.

The prosecutor's office, local authorities and other relevant organizations were due to start their investigative work, including gathering evidence and speaking to witnesses, on Wednesday morning. The nursing home's head, Mirsad Bakalovic, said he knew all those caught up in the blaze and after what he had seen during the attempts to bring it under control and rescue people, would be resigning from his post.

Ruza Kajic, who lives on the third floor, said she had gone to bed when she heard "popping sounds" and saw flames falling from upper floors.

"I looked out the window and saw burning material falling from above. I ran out into the hallway. On the upper floors, there are bedridden people," she told BHRT.

Tuzla, which is situated close to border with Serbia, is home to much of the country's chemical and mining industries.

The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is shared on a rotating tripartite basis between the country's Bosniak, Croat and Serbian communities. The presidency's current chair is Zeljko Komsic, from the Croat community, who offered condolences to all those affected.