The Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of the Tuzla Canton has received the findings and opinions of the electrical and fire protection experts on the causes of the fire in the Tuzla Retirement Home. The fire resulted in 15 deaths and more than 30 injuries. Autopsies on the bodies of the two women who died last night will be performed soon, the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of the Tuzla Canton announced.
The findings and opinions of the electrical experts state the cause of the fire. It was caused by a short circuit in the conductors of the radio receiver’s connecting cable, which at the time of the fire was plugged into a plug, squeezed between the mattress on the bed, the wall and the metal part of the bed in the room of one of the residents of the Tuzla Pensioners’ Home. The main cause is first mechanical, and then thermal stress on the cable.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton of Tuzla has formed an investigation team consisting of two prosecutors and a team of investigators from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Canton of Tuzla Police. The team is already conducting investigative actions and collecting evidence in order to establish relevant facts. The investigation will be extensive and detailed. All circumstances of the fire will be checked, i.e. the entire causal relationship, responsibility and omissions in work, as well as all facts related to the safety and fire protection measures taken or not taken in the facility.
The investigation is aimed at establishing criminal liability, i.e. elements for the existence of reasonable suspicion that official or responsible persons (or some other person) committed criminal offenses. The investigation was initially established and is related to the criminal offense of serious criminal offenses against the general safety of people and property in connection with the criminal offense of causing general danger, resulting in the death of several persons, as well as the criminal offense of negligent work in the service.
Also, extensive and detailed expert assessments will be carried out by a team of expert witnesses, construction and architectural experts and fire protection experts, which will include numerous parameters for checking security mechanisms and fire protection in the Home.
Witness hearings are also underway. All relevant material documentation will be seized to help see the broader picture during the conduct of investigative actions. As announced by the Tuzla Canton Prosecutor’s Office, work on this case is on the list of absolute priorities.
