Eight people died early Monday morning in a fire at a nursing home on the outskirts of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, according to officials and media reports.
Seven people were injured in the fire, which started around 3:30 a.m. in Barajevo, a municipality on the southern edge of Belgrade, reported the Serbian state television, RTS.
The police did not release an official statement initially. The RTS report cited emergency worker Luka Causic, who said that there were 30 people in the nursing home.
"It's a huge tragedy but it could have been even worse," he said.
Serbian government's Minister of Social Services, Nemanja Starovic, told RTS that initial findings suggest the cause was arson.
Emergency responders in Barajevo, Serbia.
The RTS report stated that the injured had been taken to a hospital in Belgrade.