An acrid smell despite the windows being open, shattered windows, dark black walls and ceilings - two days after the horror experience, the "Krone" entered the burnt apartment in Villach with the single mother. As reported, a fire had broken out in the children's room on Friday afternoon - fortunately Louis (6) was in the living room. His mother Eny was sitting at the dining table and smelled a "strange stench".

When the trainee dental assistant went to check, thick smoke was already billowing out of the passageway. She grabbed her son, who was suffering from lung disease, and fled outside via the second corridor that was fortunately available. With tears in her eyes, Eny now stands in front of her son's small, completely burnt-out bedroom, where the fire apparently broke out due to a toy battery. "If we had both been asleep, I wouldn't have been able to save my son."

But it's possible that the mother would never have woken up again because of the carbon monoxide. She would probably have been woken up by legally required fire alarms - which were not present in any of the rooms. According to the current smoke detector ordinance, this is an omission on the part of the landlord. In this case, the Catholic Church, which in its first correspondence with the family concerned only wrote that a smoke detector would probably not have prevented the major damage ...

"Krone" family helps
Mother and son are being accommodated in a hotel at the expense of the city of Villach until the destroyed apartment is "restored". A replacement apartment is not currently available. "Krone hilft" has launched a fundraising campaign for the family of two.