One of the victims is Daniel Kerfrut, who came to Prague six months ago for work from Ústí nad Labem. “I was just coming back from work when I saw smoke in the distance. They won’t let me in so I can check my things. If I lose my things, I’m practically broke,” the young man described.
He adds that the only luck was that he had a work computer with him. “I hope that my room has remained in order. At the moment I don’t have the finances for another rent,” the young man summed up to the Novinek reporter.
She was woken up by heavy smoke
A shaken woman who pays for a small attic room also shared her experiences. Novinek described the situation to the reporter at the scene of the fire.
“I was tired after work. I inhaled the smoke that woke me up. I was in total shock and ran outside where the paramedics asked me to sit down. I felt really bad, I had high levels of carbon monoxide poisoning. I had an oxygen mask for about two hours after the examination, which made me feel very relieved. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer any lasting effects.”
Unfortunately, in addition to the health, the flames also attacked the property of the residents. “I am very worried about my belongings. I have all my possessions in the room. Apart from clothes and souvenirs, the most I will miss is my mobile phone. Now it is not good, on the contrary, it is a tragedy and a huge financial burden for me,” added the desperate woman.
“I don’t want to complain, I have to be strong. Life just isn’t easy sometimes, to put it politely,” added Lederová bravely.
Dozens of firefighters with a huge amount of equipment participated in extinguishing the fire for several hours. Thick black smoke was seen from almost all of Prague in the first minutes. Paramedics treated six injured people, mainly residents of the hostel who were suffocated by the combustion fumes. One firefighter was burned during the intervention.
The fire at the Abex dormitory at Kladové nádraží ŽižkovVideo: Jan Šponar, Petr Horník, News
