Six people died and eight were injured, six seriously, in a fire in the U Kojota restaurant in Most on Saturday night, as reported by the fire service on social media yesterday. The police reported that the fire was probably caused by a propane butane gas bottle exploding.
Police are investigating the deadly fire on suspicion of the endangerment of public safety via negligence, and they have ruled out forced entry and an act of terrorism, regional police director Zbynek Dvorak told reporters at the scene.
Police did not yet know the victims’ identity, but a specialised team was at the site to identify them, he added.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Prague, Usti nad Labem, and Most. Some are in life-threatening condition as they have burns and inhaled pollutants. One injured person was discharged after treatment at the hospital in Most.
Fire department spokeswoman Lucie Pipis said in a press release that the cause of the fire was being investigated. “According to initial information, it could have been caused by a gas heater being overturned, which then led to the extremely rapid spread of flames,” Pipis said.
Regional police spokesman Vaclav Krieger told CTK that there were several working theories for the cause of the fire. “However, we are working with the most likely cause, which is that the fire started on the terrace from a burner and then from the explosion of a propane butane bottle,” he said.
The fire on Frantisek Halas street was reported to firefighters at 11:17pm on Saturday. “By the time the firefighters arrived on the scene, the building was fully engulfed in fire. The intervention commander decided to start the firefighting work, and at the same time sent a group of firefighters with a special water jet to search for a restaurant guest trapped in the toilet. They managed to rescue a severely injured guest from the burning building,” Pipis said.
Intervention commander Zdenek Blaha told reporters that it was a very demanding intervention, “since already on arrival, the whole restaurant area was ablaze, there were seriously injured people on the spot and in front of the restaurant, and of course the snow, severe frost made it difficult,” he said.
A total of 63 firefighters from 13 units were tackling the fire. During the intervention, several propane bottles exploded, and firefighters removed others from the building.
The firefighters managed to bring the fire under control shortly after 1am on Sunday morning. One member of the volunteer unit was injured in the intervention.
Firefighters ended their intervention at the site of the accident in the evening, after pulling down the burnt-out outdoor wooden structure of the restaurant, and returned to their bases, the regional fire corps spokesman Petr Pelikus told CTK yesterday evening.
There were ten crews of emergency service rescuers at the scene, as well as an air ambulance service from Plzen, which helped transport patients to the burns centre at the Vinohrady Hospital in Prague. “We treated a total of eight patients, five of whom were transported to Prague, two to the hospital in Most and one patient to the trauma centre in Usti nad Labem. The injuries are serious,” Usti regional emergency service director Petr Bures told reporters.
52 police officers intervened at the scene, evacuating 38 people from the adjacent buildings into buses and closing access roads. Police said on social media that the street around the restaurant would remain closed during the investigation.
“We are turning to any witnesses of the accident, especially guests who left the restaurant before the fire, to call 158. According to my information, there was a party taking place at the venue, however, it is a normally open restaurant. We do not know the extent of the damage,” said Krieger. A crisis phone line for the fire has been activated at 771 509 567.
The statics of the extension of the restaurant building, where the fire probably originated, are damaged, and are being secured by firefighters. The intersection of Frantisek Halas and Zdenek Fibich streets was closed for the whole day yesterday. The fire also damaged some cars near the restaurant.
Most Mayor Marek Hrvol (ProMOST) said the incident was the biggest tragedy in the town’s modern history.
“I can of course express my deep and sincere condolences to all the bereaved, I am terribly sorry,” he told reporters. “And on the other hand, I have to thank all the emergency services because I was right there during the night intervention and I have to say it was superbly coordinated. Everybody did the utmost to save as many lives as possible.”
