Considered Negligent, Four Officials In Serbia Arrested By Police In Connection With Fire That Killed 8 People
JAKARTA - Serbian police arrested four people in connection with a fire in a nursing home last month that killed eight people and injured seven others.
The fire in Barajevo, a city outside the capital Belgrade, was caused by negligence, as was the case with the collapse of a tent at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad in November that killed 15 people.
Police said four suspects, officials from the Ministry of Manpower and Social Affairs and the Department of Inspection Supervision identified only with their initials, were suspected of abusing their positions and negligence.
"They allegedly allowed the operation of nursing homes in Barajevo without meeting the necessary and unapproved requirements from the authorized ministry for fire safety planning," the Serbian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
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The prosecutor's office initially said the fire at Barajevo's nursing home was caused by one of the residents who was among the dead.
The Novi Sad disaster sparked mass protests nationwide by students and opponents of populist President Aleksandar Vucic and the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).