Demolition of houses in which three Slovak Romanies died starts

The Slovak construction company that won the tender for the demolition of blocks of flats at Kosice’s Lunik IX housing estate in which three children died in a fire this year started to prepare their demolition today, executive Julius Lapdavsky told CTK.

The company will demolish two blocks of flats whose statics was damaged in the fire and it will start demolishing them in the days to come.

Apart from the fire, the residents’ neglecting of their housing is responsible for the state of the blocks of flat.

This is the first ever block of flats at the housing estate that is mainly populated by Romanies that will be demolished.

Three children suffocated after in the fire that broke out at night at Lunik IX on April 25.

The cause of the fire has not yet been found.

Lunik IX has been known for problems related to high unemployment, poverty and bad living conditions.

Lunik IX is the largest Romany housing estate in Slovakia, with 5700 Romany inhabitants officially living there.

"The demolition will not be easy since the blocks stand very close to each other. However, we will first have to clean garbage heaps outside the house that would prevent heavy equipment to reach the damaged houses," Lapdavsky said.

"The demolition of two blocks will cost the state about seven million crowns that will be paid from the town budget," Marian Krajnak, from the Town Hall, said.

The Towh Hall has provided 300 people who lived in the two blocks of flats destroyed by the fire with new housing at the housing estate. However, the statics of many more houses at Lunik IX is damaged.

The largest Romany housing estate in central Europe was built on the outskirts of Kosice as a social experiment.

Romanies as well as members of the police and the military have become its residents.

Part of the residents moved out from the housing estate in the 1990s.