Former Director of the Home for the Elderly in Tuzla Mirsad Bakalović (SDP) arrested: Suspected of failures in the fire protection system!

(Patria) - Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tuzla Canton have arrested the director of the Home for the Elderly in Tuzla, Mirsad Bakalović (SDP BiH), writes Istraga.ba.

Bakalović was initially summoned to the premises of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of TC, and then the acting prosecutor of the Tuzla Canton Prosecutor's Office issued an order for his deprivation of liberty. He was arrested due to failures in the fire protection system at the Home for the Elderly in Tuzla.

Let us recall, a fire broke out at the Home for the Elderly in Tuzla on November 4th this year. As a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, 16 people were injured, and one person died from burns.

According to the initial expert finding, the fire occurred as a result of a short circuit in the conductors of the radio receiver's connecting cable, which was plugged into an outlet at the time of the fire, squeezed between the mattress, the wall, and the metal part of the bed in the room of one of the residents of the Home for the Elderly in Tuzla. The primary cause was mechanical, and then thermal, stress on the cable.

The expert's finding and opinion on the causes of the fire are the initial part of the investigative actions being carried out, which will be conducted further to determine responsibility and failures, in order to gather facts on whether the consequences could have been avoided or mitigated - it was announced by the Tuzla Canton Prosecutor's Office.

However, whether there were failures in fire protection has not yet been officially determined. Nevertheless, according to information, there were numerous failures during the activation of the protection and ventilation systems.

According to official data, fire protection services were provided by the company INPROZ. Bakalović awarded all contracts to the company, owned by the family of his party colleague, through direct agreement, in order to avoid public procurement procedures.

Three months before the fire, specifically on August 12, 2025, Bakalović awarded a contract to the company INPROZ. It was a direct agreement, and the contract related to fire protection. In June 2022, the same company, INPROZ, received a contract from the Home for the Elderly in Tuzla, which also related to fire protection. Again – a direct agreement. INPROZ received contracts from Bakalović on August 14, 2024, June 10, 2024, September 13, 2023, August 14, 2023, and June 13, 2023. Each time it was a direct agreement.