site.btaFire in Unlicensed Nursing Home Leaves One Dead, Three Injured

A fire in a nursing home in Sofia's Bankya suburb Wednesday left one dead and three injured, the Interior Ministry told BTA. The call for the fire on the third floor of a residential building in Bankya was received at 14:39 hrs.

Three fire engines and three ambulances were sent to the scene. The firemen and medics found one person dead. Two women were tended to by medics on the spot and a man was taken to the Pirogov emergency hospital. The hospital later told BTA that he was diagnosed with some 6% burns, toxic smoke inhalation and lower respiratory tract burns. The hospital said the man's life is in danger.

The Labour and Social Policy Ministry said later on Wednesday that the nursing home was operating without a licence. That was established during a check in June 2024, when police found in the "nursing home" 11 inmates with failing health. The competent authorities - the prosecution service and Interior Ministry - have been alerted as the Agency for Social Services Quality is not competent to close an unlicensed social care facility, the Ministry said. 

Approached by the press for comment, Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said that a case file with instructions from the prosecution service only reached the Interior Ministry some two weeks ago and the police "has done almost everything as per the instructions of the prosecution service".