Horror blaze in retirement home kills 11 people with dozens more injured

At least 11 people died and dozens more were injured after a blaze erupted in a building housing a retirement home. The fire erupted yesterday evening, November 4, at the retirement facility in the town of Tuzla, Bosnia, breaking out on the seventh floor shortly after 8:45pm local time (7:45pm GMT).

Horrifying footage shows plumes of smoke filling the night sky with flames and smoke engulfing the higher floors - these areas of the complex were occupied by elderly people many of whom are unable to move on their own. Emergency services rushed to the scene, rescuing dozens as the fire spread. Those rescued were moved by emergency crews from the upper floors to lower ones.

Approximately 20 people were sent to a medical centre for treatment, including firefighters, police officers, medical workers, employees, and residents of the home, a police spokesperson said. Some of those injured are said to be in critical condition.

Identification of the victims will start later on today, and an investigation into the cause of the fire will start once conditions allow it, police say.

While cause of the fire was not immediately clear, Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić called it "a disaster of enormous proportions".

Resident, Ruza Kajic, who lives on the third floor, said she heard a "cracking sound" then horrifyingly saw "burning material falling from above".

She told BHRT national broadcaster: “I had gone to bed when I heard a cracking sound. I don’t know if it was the windows in my room breaking.

“I live on the (home’s) third floor. I looked out the window and saw burning material falling from above." 

"Authorities are taking all necessary actions to shed light on the conditions that caused this tragic event", the retirement home said in a statement.

The chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's tripartite presidency, Željko Komšić, offered condolences to the victims' families and the injured.

The government of Republika Srpska, the Serb Republic, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, offered its assistance to Tuzla.

"We feel the pain and are always ready to help," Savo Minic, Prime Minister of the Serb Republic wrote on X.

According to a spokesperson for the Tuzla University clinical centre, several patients were being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, three of whom were in intensive care, local media reported.