Eight people were killed and 30 injured in a fire early Sunday morning in a home for the mentally disabled in a small town in the western Czech Republic, aid workers said. "A total of 38 people were victims of the fire, eight of whom unfortunately died," said emergency services spokesman Prokop Volenik. All of the victims are adults, he said.
Thirty people were transported to hospital, one in critical condition and three with serious injuries, added Prokop Volenik, adding that it was too early to decide on the causes of the disaster. The fire, reported at 03.49 GMT, is now extinguished. "The fire broke out in the male section of a home for the mentally handicapped," said Jitka Gavdunova, the mayor of Vejprty, a small town on the German border about 100 km northwest of Prague. .
Precedents in this establishment
Quoted by the daily DNES, she said that the residents of the home had tried to set it on fire in the past and that there was a shortage of staff in the establishment. When the fire started, residents of the village tried to help those in the home. Thus, “the deputy mayor ran into the flames to help people (…). He is now in the hospital under observation, ”said Jitka Gavdunova.
According to her, the residents of the home could walk freely in town and the establishment only had fire detectors in the toilets used as smoking rooms. "We don't have to be as kind to people who are 6 to 12 years of mental age," she said. Police wrote on Twitter that criminal negligence had been responsible for the incident. Two German ambulances participated in the rescue operations, said the spokesman for the rescue services.
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