Another fire in Rybářská street – was it another attack?

The building on Rybářská street in Opava where three Romani families live may have been the target of another arson attack in the early morning hours of Saturday. Kumar Vishwanathan, who has long worked with the local community, reported the incident to the press. However, police and firefighters only logged a fire in the locality roughly 100 meters away from the building, according to the daily Právo.

René Černohorský, spokesperson for the Opava police, said no other fire was reported at the time. Vishwanathan was quoted in Saturday’s issue of Právo as saying several young people attacked by dragging a metal garbage can over in front of the building and setting it on fire.

“I got a telephone call this morning from the Roma living in the building on Rybářská street saying several young people attacked there after 3 AM. They are said to have dragged a garbage can on fire up to the doors of the building, kicked on the doors and yelled hate slogans,” Právo quoted Vishwanathan, who said he was planning to visit this afternoon.

“People called firefighters and police. Firefighters put out the blaze, but the police are not investigating the case, people said the police officers laughed at them,” the activist claims.

Černohorský said local police logged a fire at 3:50 AM Saturday morning on Rybářská street in a container near the Penny Market. “Nothing official was reported, so we are not investigating. A garbage can was on fire near the Penny Market on Rybářská street, approximately 100 meters away from the Roma-inhabited building. We did not log any threats,” the police spokesperson told Právo.

Petr Faster, spokesperson for the Moravian-Silesian Firefighters, confirmed the police account. “One firefighter unit responded just before 4 AM to a fire in a metal garbage can by the Penny Market on Rybářská street in Opava. I cannot confirm any speculations about an arson attack,” Faster said.