Fire kills five including four children in Slovak slum

Four children and an adult died in a fire in an eastern Slovak slum late on Wednesday, rescue services and local officials said. The fire occurred in a settlement in the town of Velky Saris near the eastern Slovak city of Presov, around 300 kilometers (190 miles) northeast of the capital, Bratislava.

“The fire in a settlement claimed the lives of four little children and one adult,” Velky Saris Mayor Viliam Kall said on Facebook. “Eight huts have burned down, and the unfortunate incident affected around 30 people.” Eleven adults and seven children were evacuated to a local community center.

The TVnoviny.sk news site reported that one of the victims was a baby. “Unfortunately, we found five lifeless people,” ambulance spokeswoman Petra Klimesova told AFP. She added that rescuers had also treated a girl suffering from an acute stress reaction at the site.

Voluntary firefighters from the nearby village of Zupcany said they were dispatched to the site shortly after 10:30 p.m. (2130 GMT) on Wednesday. “It was a fire of simple housing huts. Unfortunately, while putting the fire out, we found the burned remains of five people,” they said on Facebook.

Rescue teams and authorities are now assessing the situation, providing aid to those affected, and investigating the cause of the fire.