
A fire tore through an apartment building in the northern Czech Republic on Saturday, killing 11 people, including three children and five others who jumped from the upper floors to escape the blaze, local media reported.
The fire broke out at the 11th floor of a 13-story building in the town of Bohumin, on the Czech-Polish border.
“There are three adults dead and three children in the apartment,” the head of the Moravian-Silesian fire brigade, Vladimír Vlček told the news site.
Five other people died after jumping from the 12th floor, according to Interior Minister Jan Hamáček, who spoke to the Czech public radio.
Both Hamáček and the head of the regional government, Ivo Vondrák, suggested the fire is likely to have been set deliberately.
Regional fire squad head Vladimír Vlček told Czech Television he did not want to speculate about the causes of the fire for the moment.
“But the fire was very quick to develop, which is not normal. A fire like that typically affects one room, but this one hit the entire flat, all the rooms are burnt down,” he said.
Vondrák said that besides the victims, thirteen people were injured in the fire, including two firefighters and one police officer.
Regional chief police officer Tomáš Kužel said police have detained one person in connection with the incident.
The building belongs to Bohumin Town Hall.

Firefighters carry a victim after a fire broke out in an apartment building in Bohumin, Czech Republic, August 8, 2020. REUTERS/Lukas Kabon

An apartment building is seen after a fire broke out in Bohumin, Czech Republic, August 8, 2020. REUTERS/Lukas Kabon
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