Thirteen days after the tragic accident in which 23-year-old Erdoan M. lost his life, and 17-year-old EJ suffered serious injuries, the Prosecutor’s Office of Sarajevo Canton (KS) presents the first official details of this extensive investigation to the public.
The case that shook Sarajevo took on much wider proportions. As previously announced, the investigation is being conducted in several directions. The goal is not only to determine the exact causes that led to the fatal traffic accident, but also to shed light on suspicions of serious economic crime within the Cantonal Public Utility Company GRAS.
At the media conference, which is held in the KS Prosecutor’s Office building, the details of the evidence collected so far and the results of the investigation are presented by the chief cantonal prosecutor Meliha Dugalija. Along with her, the police commissioner of the KS MUP Police Directorate, inspector general of police Fatmir Hajdarević, addresses the public and the media.
The police commissioner of the Sarajevo Canton MUP Police Department, Fatmir Hajdarević, was the first to address the public, presenting a detailed chronology of events and the steps taken by the police since the moment of the horrific accident.
“At the beginning, in a few short sentences, I will look back at that event and the actions taken from the moment this accident was reported. On Thursday, February 12, 2026, at around 12:02 p.m., the operations center of the KS MUP was informed by citizens that a tram accident occurred near the National Museum with injured persons,” Hajdarević began.
Chronology of the accident and balance of victims
Upon arriving at the scene, members of the Center Police Department, the Uniformed Police Department and the Criminal Police Department determined that the accident involved a tram type K2 (garage number 516), which is owned by the company GRAS and driven by a driver with the initials AK
“The tram was moving from the direction of the Railway Station. Arriving at the intersection of Zmaja od Bosna Street, when turning left, the tram derailed at the stop near the Museum, and then onto the road itself,” explained the commissioner.
A pedestrian born in 2003 died in this tragic accident. His death was pronounced on the spot, at 4:05 p.m., by a doctor from the Institute for Emergency Medical Assistance. In addition to him, four other people were injured – two suffered serious and two minor injuries. Among the seriously injured, with life-threatening injuries, there is a minor high school student (born in 2009), who was immediately taken care of at the “Primary Dr. Abdulah Nakaš” General Hospital.
Denied rumors about the presence of the Director of GRAS at the hearing
The commissioner also described in detail the procedures that followed immediately after the accident. The investigation, with the presence of on-duty prosecutors, court experts from the traffic, mechanical and medical professions, lasted until late in the evening. The tram was then transferred under police escort to the GRAS area, where it was secured by the Intervention Police for the continuation of the expert examination.
The tram driver was immediately subjected to a breathalyzer test, where the presence of alcohol in the body was not determined, and blood and urine samples were also taken for further expert examinations. The driver of AK was detained at 19:20 on the same day.
Hajdarević specifically referred to the speculations that appeared in the public regarding the questioning of the suspected driver.
“Given that there was talk in the public space that an unauthorized person attended the interrogation, specifically the director of GRAS, it was unequivocally established that no one else attended the interrogation of the suspect, except for his defense attorney and authorized officials,” emphasized Hajdarević, strongly denying these allegations.
Extensive investigation: 50 witnesses were heard
The Police Directorate and the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office formed special teams of experienced investigators and prosecutors in order to shed light on this complex case as quickly and efficiently as possible. Video from the surveillance systems of multiple entities in the vicinity of the accident was requested to be removed.
“Investigators worked non-stop. Already on February 13, one witness from Konjic who was a passenger on the tram was heard, and operational work was carried out to find additional eyewitnesses. To date, since the formation of the special team, another 32 witnesses have been heard. Thus, so far a total of 50 citizens have been heard as witnesses,” Commissioner Hajdarević concluded the first part of his presentation.
Prosecutor Dugalija: Investigation in several directions, GRAS contracts under scrutiny
The chief prosecutor of Sarajevo Canton, Meliha Dugalija, emphasized that this case is an absolute priority for the judiciary and the police. Due to the complexity of the case, a special prosecution team was formed, consisting of three prosecutors – two from the Department for General Crime and one from the Department for Economic Crime and Corruption.
“The investigation does not only proceed in the direction of determining the cause-and-effect relationship between the driver’s actions, the technical elements of the tram, the rails and the entire infrastructure. Our approach is open and non-selective, and we determine the chain of responsibility within the public company GRAS and other competent authorities,” Dugalija pointed out.
As she explained, the Prosecution is actively checking the active defense of the driver who was driving the tram, whose proposal to order detention was recently rejected by the Cantonal Court, classifying the act as negligence.
Surveillance cameras in the tram have not worked for months
The most important part of the chief prosecutor’s address related to the findings and evidence seized during the investigation, which seriously compromise the security procedures at GRAS.
A special focus was placed on the video surveillance inside the fatal tram (garage number 516). The hard drive was removed from the driver’s cabin on the day of the accident, but forensic analysis revealed shocking information.
“It was determined that the last recorded recording on the hard drive was from November 29, 2025. Currently, detailed forensic analyzes are being performed and recordings are being collected from the surrounding facilities, including the American Embassy building,” Dugalija revealed.
The investigation was extended to other trams of the same type (ČKD K2). By order of the court, hard drives from six more trams were seized. For two trams, the data could not be read at all, while for the remaining four there was no recording continuity.
“It was established that the company BS Telecom Solutions was in charge of installing video surveillance in trams, which they did. However, so far no data has been obtained on any public procurement for the maintenance of that system. The investigation will be focused specifically on whose failures led to the fact that the video surveillance systems in the trams were not maintained,” the chief prosecutor stressed.
Investigation on public procurement and magnetic brakes
In parallel with the investigation into the causes of the accident, the Department for Economic Crime and Corruption is investigating a series of reports and media reports related to the operations of GRAS and the Ministry of Transport of the KS.
The Prosecutor’s Office has received an anonymous criminal complaint concerning the questionable public procurement of magnetic brakes for ČKD-type trams.
“Upon receipt of the application, information was obtained from the Office for the Fight against Corruption of the KS. By court orders, the documentation related to this procurement was temporarily confiscated by GRAS and the company Viklar Promet dooand the hearing of witnesses was ordered”, confirmed Dugalija.
In addition, checks are carried out on GRAS’s contractual relations with other economic entities, including contracts on marketing and advertising on trams.
Voluminous documentation excluded
In order to compile the overall picture, the Prosecutor’s Office seized extensive documentation from several institutions:
–From GRAS: Documentation on failure reports, servicing and maintenance of all ČKD brand trams.
–From the KS Ministry of Transport: Documentation on the last reconstruction of the tram line and infrastructure, projects of the line from the Railway Station to the SCC, and signal plans for the intersection where the accident occurred.
Also, all available documentation was requested from the Office for the Fight against Corruption in connection with the contracts of GRAS, the Ministry of Transport and the company BS Telecom Solutions.
“The investigation is proceeding in several directions. We are also checking the circumstances of other tram accidents that happened on the same day, specifically the tram collision on the Ilidža roundabout”, concluded the chief cantonal prosecutor Meliha Dugalija.
(TYPE/Source: N1)
