Eight People Die, 30 Injured at a Czech Home for Disabilities

Eight people died and thirty were injured in a fire at a Czech home for people with disabilities on Sunday, according to local media.

Czech Television reported that the fire occurred at the northwestern town of Vejprty that borders Germany.

Prokop Volenik, the spokesman for the regional rescue service, said that the fire broke out at around 5 a.m. local time and one of the injured is in critical condition.

Czech media said the fire which was now under control was reported at 0349 GMT.

“The fire broke out in the boys’ section of a home for the mentally handicapped,” said Jitka Gavdunova, the mayor of Vejprty, a small town on the German border some 100 kilometers northwest of Prague.

Originally, rescuers said the fire had occurred at a nearby home for the elderly.

Rescuers from neighboring Germany came to help their Czech colleagues who were not able to use helicopters due to bad weather.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis called the fire “a terrible tragedy”, saying on Twitter that police and firefighters were doing their utmost.

Probably the fire started in one room and that most of those killed died from smoke inhalation.