Police in Banja Luka is initiating an internal investigation against officers who took on Tuesday five people to the wrong quarantine facility, where those who tested positive for the coronavirus are staying.

The five Bosnian citizens were taken from From Jakupovac, Laktasi to the Student Centre ‘Nikola Tesla’, instead of to the High-School Centre in Banja Luka.

According to the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska (RS), one of Bosnia’s two semi-autonomous regions, the police officers did not have the competencies to send the Bosnian citizens to the Student Centre.

RS opposition lawmaker from the Party for Democratic Progress (PDP), Drasko Stanivukovic, published testimonies of those who were sent to the wrong facility.

The five said they were sent to a centre for those who were infected, although they were completely healthy.

“The doorman told us that this is where those infected are kept. We tried to explain that we were healthy, but as he smiled, we thought he was joking. We were sent to the third floor where we were told there are no infected people. As we started climbing the stairs, we saw people who were clearly sick on the first and second floor,” said one of them, Nevena.

Another one of them was Dusko, who said that two police officers approached them and said they should not be there and to leave.

Then the group was sent to another centre, Dusko said.

“I was healthy before I entered the building, but now, I don’t know. I have to wait for five or six days and then get tested,” he said.

RS Health Minister, Alen Seranic, spoke of the incident in his morning press conference on Tuesday.

“I am sorry this happened, most of all I apologise to those who found themselves in this situation, being sent to the student centre instead of the local quarantine facility, due to an error,” he said.