Slovakia: Blaze in Romani settlement deprives 70 people of housing

A fire broke out on Monday, 30 March in a Romani settlement in the municipality of Malcov, Bardějov district in Slovakia. A total of 15 cabins were burned to the ground and approximately 70 people were made homeless, 30 of them children; no one was injured.  

Mayor Stanislav Gernát convened a crisis committee that night and declared a state of emergency. The municipality arranged for heated tents and food for the displaced, most of whom took shelter with relatives.  

There was another fire on Monday in the municipality of Hranovnica, Poprad district, with the roofs of two single-family homes catching fire that night. The preliminary damage was estimated at EUR 45 000.

No one was injured in that blaze either. The causes and circumstances of the fire are under investigation.