Fire at Pakistan Embassy in Belgrade's Dedinje, all staff evacuated
A morning fire engulfed the loft and part of the roof of the Pakistan Embassy in Belgrade's Dedinje district. All staff were safely evacuated and the cause is being investigated.
- A fire broke out at the Pakistan Embassy building in Belgrade's Dedinje in the morning hours.
- The blaze spread to the loft and part of the roof, with flames coming through the windows.
- All staff were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported.
- The cause of the fire is being established through an on-site investigation.
A fire broke out at the Pakistan Embassy building on Bulevar kneza Aleksandra Karadjordjevica 62 in Belgrade’s Dedinje district. It was spotted in the morning hours, at around 8.40 a.m., when thick smoke began pouring from the upper part of the structure.
The flames spread to the loft and part of the roof of the diplomatic building. According to footage from the scene, the fire was breaking through the top floor windows. Several fire engines were dispatched immediately, and all embassy staff were safely evacuated from the building.
Dedinje is a part of the city home to a number of diplomatic missions and residences, so any response in that area draws added attention. The Pakistan Embassy building sits on a busy boulevard, close to other embassies, which made the thick smoke visible from several directions.
How did the response in Dedinje unfold?
Fire and rescue crews reached the address soon after the first calls and began tackling the blaze from several sides. Teams worked to stop the fire from reaching lower floors and adjacent rooms, while part of the crew secured the approaches to the building.
During the operation, traffic in the surrounding streets was partly disrupted by the deployed vehicles and hoses. Based on the information available so far, no one was injured in the fire, which in situations like this is the first and most important fact.
The hardest part was putting out the seats of the fire in the roof structure, where flames can smoulder for a long time beneath the covering. Crews therefore also checked sections of the roof that at first glance did not appear to be affected.
As the site is a diplomatic building, police were also present, securing the perimeter and coordinating with embassy staff. The swift evacuation showed that the building had been cleared before the fire reached full intensity, which is decisive for people’s safety.
What is known about the cause?
The cause of the fire has not been officially confirmed. The competent services said the exact trigger would be determined only after an on-site investigation, which is carried out once the fire is fully extinguished and the building is safe to examine.
When a loft and roof catch fire, the investigation usually looks into several possible causes:
- a fault or overload in the electrical wiring
- damage to the heating system or the chimney
- an external source of fire or human error
Until the investigation is completed, everything remains at the level of assumptions, so officials are urging restraint until the official finding is published. In such cases particular attention is paid to assessing the stability of the roof structure, because fire damage can leave lasting effects on the load-bearing elements. Just how much material damage was done to the embassy building, and how long will the roof repairs take?
