Serbian police arrest four after nursing home fire

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian police have arrested four people in connection with a fire at a nursing home last month in which eight people were killed and seven injured, the government said on Thursday.

The blaze in Barajevo, a municipality just outside the capital Belgrade, was blamed on negligence as was the collapse of an awning at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad in November that killed 15 people.

Police said four suspects, officials of the Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs and the Department for Inspection Supervision who have been identified by their initials only, are suspected of abuse of office and negligence.

"They are suspected of enabling the operation of the ... nursing home in Barajevo without meeting the necessary conditions ... and without the approval of the competent ministry for fire safety planning," an Interior Ministry statement said.

The prosecutor's office had initially said the fire at the Barajevo nursing home was caused by one of the residents, who was among those who died.

The Novi Sad disaster sparked nationwide mass protests by students and opponents of populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

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