Skopje, 10 September 2021 (MIA) — Five public prosecutors are leading the investigation into the cause of the Tetovo modular covid hospital fire in which 14 people died on Wednesday night, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday. Post-mortem examinations done by the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Criminalistics in Skopje showed that eight of them were women, and six were men. They were aged 29 to 78. Of them, 12 people were admitted to the covid hospital for treatment. Two people were visitors. One was the wife of a patient, and the other was another patient’s daughter, the PPO said. The reasons for their being at the hospital at the time of the fire are yet unknown, the PPO adds. Right before the fire broke out, medical staff were fighting for the life of another patient, who died of coronavirus-related complications and her body was being taken out of the hospital before the outbreak. An autopsy was done to determine the exact cause of death, nonetheless, and it was confirmed it was Covid-19, and not the fire, the PPO notes. Orders have been sent to the Department of Forensic Investigations and Expert Examinations in Skopje to identify, collect and assess physical evidence from the scene and determine the cause of the fire. Videos taken in and around the Tetovo covid hospital are also being collected and examined by forensic experts as evidence. In addition, eyewitnesses have been and will be interviewed about the events in the modular covid hospital on Wednesday night. The Tetovo Police Department has been tasked with obtaining the entire documentation regarding the construction of the covid modular hospital both from the Tetovo hospital and the contractor overseeing the construction. The Tetovo Public Prosecution Office together with the Skopje Primary Public Prosecutor’s Office is looking into the documentation for any possible omissions regarding workplace safety and fire safety regulations. In addition to the Department of Forensic Investigations and Expert Examinations and the Ministry of Interior investigators, prosecutors are also cooperating with the Protection and Rescue Directorate and electrical engineering experts as well as representatives of the EVN power utility company in conducting the probe into the cause of the tragic event, the press release says. mr/