Tetovo Clinical Center and three hospital officials will be responsible for the fire in the modular

Tetovo fire
Insight after the fire in the Tetovo modular hospital / Photo: EPA-EFE / Georgi Licovski

The Tetovo Clinical Center as a legal health facility and three people who were in charge of the hospital when it happened the fire at the modular hospital in Tetovo will be blamed for the fire that broke out in the evening of September 8, 2021 when 14 people died, "Free Press" has learned.

Of the dead, 12 were patients, and the other two were people caring for some of their loved ones. After the tragedy, the then Minister of Health Venko Filipce and his deputy Ilir Hasani offered resignations, but the former prime minister Zoran Zaev did not accept them. The general director of the Tetovo hospital resigned Florin Besimi and the economic director Artan Etemi.

The BPPO confirms that the responsibility for the tragedy was located in the Tetovo modular hospital that burned in a fire.

"The prosecutors of the case have reported to the Republic Prosecutor's Office and the case is nearing completion. The case will be submitted to the Court in Tetovo these days for further procedure, "said the Public Prosecutor's Office, adding that it was a large and complex case in which many lives of our citizens were lost.

During the pre-investigation procedure, over 30 doctors and nurses who were engaged in the covid center in Tetovo on the fateful night, were called to testify. Witness testimonies and family members were also collected. The investigation also involved German experts, whose report arrived three months ago.

There are suspects in the fire that happened last year in the modular hospital in Tetovo, said the Public Prosecutor of Macedonia, Ljupчоo Jovevski in an interview for the show "25 minutes".

- It can not be said that the cable is to blame and that no one will answer. It is known to the public that the prosecution is conducting a procedure for this case. You must understand that this is a huge tragedy, that many lives of our citizens have been lost, that the prosecution is taking many actions. "More than 40 witnesses have been heard," he said.

A report will be filed after the investigation is completed.

So far, only details of the report prepared by Macedonian forensic technicians, who submitted their report to the prosecutors leading the investigation on October 10, have been made public. Macedonian forensic technicians determined that the fire in the modular hospital in Tetovo occurred as a result of an electrical short circuit through a high transient resistance in the connection cable defibrillator with which a patient was resuscitated in one of the hospital rooms.

The overheating of the cable caused the ignition in the junction box of the extension cord to which the defibrillator, mobile phone charger and another device were connected. This was the only specific information that indicated what was the initial trigger for the outbreak of the fire. A few months later, the report was submitted by German experts who performed expertise in foreign laboratories. The details of the document were not made public, but parts of it, according to prosecutors, coincide with the findings of Macedonian forensic technicians.

Ismaili: We seek justice, to find the culprits for the tragedy in the modular hospital in Tetovo

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