Another patient injured in a fire at a retirement home in the Bosnian city of Tuzla has died, bringing the death toll from the November 4 blaze to 13, the Tuzla University Clinical Center (UKC) said on Thursday.
The woman had been treated at the Clinic for Anesthesiology and Reanimatology. Thirteen people remain hospitalized, including one patient on a ventilator, hospital spokeswoman Ersija Aščerić Mujedinović said.
Six people — a police officer and five residents — are being treated at the Clinic for Pulmonary Diseases. Three are hospitalized at the internal medicine ward and one at the urology clinic, all in stable condition, she added.
Preliminary autopsy results showed that 11 victims died of suffocation and carbon monoxide poisoning, while one person sustained burn injuries, according to the Tuzla Commemorative Center.
City officials said Tuzla will cover the costs of funerals and burials for all victims. Director of the Commemorative Center, Faruk Latifagić, said that nine autopsies had been completed and that the first burials would take place on Thursday.
“There are indications that some families want a joint funeral, but others prefer individual ceremonies,” Latifagić told local media, adding that some relatives were traveling from abroad.
A four-day mourning period has been declared in Tuzla Canton, from November 6 to 9.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, which broke out late Monday night and spread through the upper floors of the retirement home.