On the afternoon of Friday 6th December one of our Slovakian employees received a phone call from their parents to say that there had been an explosion in a high-rise residential building in Prešov, Slovakia.
We have two employees who are Slovakian, and it looked like the block of flats in question was where our supervisor’s brother lives…more worryingly, he is disabled and in a wheelchair following a car accident several years ago.
It appears as though a gas line was damaged during some internal refurbishment works and, despite questions on the day from residents about the smell of gas, work continued.
The resulting explosion ripped through the upper floors of the building, made the situation worse by taking out stairways, and resulted in a significant fire. The death toll is going to be at least eight people, some of whom tragically appear to have jumped from the building.
Although our employees have friends who live in the building affected, they managed to escape or were not at home at the time. Also luckily, our supervisor’s brother was in the adjacent building, but is still unable to return home (along with many other local residents) due to the severe damage across the local neighbourhood.
A couple of reports are available here:
SEP has made a donation to an account set up by the town council (SWIFT: CEKOSKBX, IBAN: SK90 7500 0000 0040 0859 1229), and any further donations would of course be welcome in order that the town can support those displaced for as long as necessary.
Our condolences go to those affected by this tragedy, and the families of those who have lost their lives.