Two Dead in Apartment Fire on Zvezdara
Two people died in a fire in an apartment on Celopecka Street in Belgrade's Zvezdara district. Neighbors smelled smoke, firefighters forced the door and found two bodies. The cause is being determined.
- Two people died in a fire in an apartment on Celopecka Street on Zvezdara.
- Eight firefighters and two vehicles responded to the call.
- Neighbors smelled smoke, firefighters forced the door and found two lifeless bodies.
- The bodies were sent for an autopsy and the cause of the fire is being determined.
Two people died in a fire that broke out in an apartment on Celopecka Street in Belgrade’s Zvezdara district. The blaze engulfed a flat in a newer building, and units from the Emergency Situations Sector responded after neighbors who smelled smoke called it in.
Eight firefighters and two vehicles were dispatched to the scene. When they arrived, the entrance to the apartment was locked, so the firefighters forced the door to get inside. They found two lifeless bodies within. For both people, any help was already too late.
According to first reports, the victims were a married couple, Chinese nationals, who had recently moved into the building. Those details are for now treated as unofficial and subject to verification. Official confirmation of the victims’ identities is expected after the on-site investigation and autopsy.
How did the response unfold?
The sequence of events known so far begins with the smell of smoke in the building’s common areas. Neighbors reacted and called the emergency services. The speed of that reaction is often decisive in residential fires, because smoke and high temperatures act within minutes in an enclosed space.
On arrival, the crews had to get past a locked door. That is standard procedure when there is reasonable suspicion that someone is inside an apartment and there is no response from within. After entering, the firefighters contained the blaze and stopped it from spreading to neighboring flats.
By order of the authorities, the bodies were taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The autopsy is meant to establish the exact cause of death, including whether the deaths were caused by poisoning from combustion products or by the flames themselves. The findings will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.
What does the investigation still have to establish?
The cause of the fire is not yet known. The on-site examination carried out by police and fire and rescue units should show where and why the fire started. As with most residential fires, faulty wiring, careless use of appliances or an open flame, along with other possibilities, are all being considered.
Until an official finding, every assumption about the cause remains just that. The authorities have yet to combine the evidence from the scene, the neighbors’ accounts and the autopsy results into a single picture. Only then will it be clear what happened in the apartment on Celopecka Street.
Fatal residential fires are a yearly reminder of how important smoke detectors and sound wiring are. For the family and neighbors of the victims, however, there remains a loss that no report can ease.
Does your building have smoke detectors, and do you know how to react when you smell something burning?
