site.btaPolice Arrest Manager of Unlicensed Nursing Home after One Resident Dies in Fire

Police have arrested the manager of an unlicensed nursing home where a fire on Wednesday killed one resident and injured three others. As he announced the arrest on Thursday, Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said that the question about why the nursing home had not been closed as soon as it became clear that it did not have a licence, should be addressed to other institutions - not the Interior Ministry.

The fire started on the third floor of the residential building. Ambulances and fire engines were rushed to the seen and the medics found one dead resident. One was taken to hospital and two others were tended to on the spot.

The Labour and Social Policy Ministry said soon after news of the deadly fire was reported, that the nursing home had been 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". 

The facility manager has been detained for 24 hours and a pre-trial proceeding has been opened, Stoyanov said on Thursday.