Bosnia nursing home blaze death toll rises to 13

Agencies :

The death toll from a nursing home blaze in Bosnia earlier this week rose to 13 after a woman died from her injuries overnight, a hospital in Tuzla confirmed Friday.

The fire broke out on Tuesday evening on the seventh floor of the building in Tuzla, 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Sarajevo.

Tuzla University Clinical Centre said the woman died late Thursday.
Over a dozen people, including a police officer, remain in hospital, it added. Three of them were in intensive care.

Seven women and six men were killed in the blaze, all aged between 67 and 96 years old, prosecutors said.

Experts are working with prosecutors and police to “determine the cause and circumstances that led to this terrible tragedy,” regional prosecutor Vedran Alidzanovic told reporters earlier.

Autopsies revealed 11 victims died from smoke inhalation, officials said.
Bosnian officials called the blaze a “disaster of enormous proportions”.

“It’s a true tragedy,” Tuzla mayor Zijad Lugavic said on Wednesday, saying that more than 60 people were evacuated during the fire.

Bosnia’s Muslim-Croat entity observed a day of mourning for the victims on Thursday.