Roma child seriously hurt in alleged Czech arson attack

Apr 19, 2009, 12:49 GMT

Prague - A Roma toddler and her parents were seriously injured in an apparent petrol bomb attack overnight on their house in north-eastern Czech Republic, police said Sunday.

The victims said someone threw Molotov cocktails in their house in the town of Vitkov, setting it ablaze shortly before midnight, police spokeswoman Sona Stetinska told the German Press Agency dpa.

She said that police would not be able to confirm the cause of the fire until after examining the site, which has been complicated by the danger of the building's collapse.

Outgoing Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said he was 'seriously concerned by surging extremism', urging authorities to determine whether the incident had been racially motivated.

Police said the motive of the alleged attack was not immediately known. 'We cannot confirm that it was racially motivated but we also cannot rule it out,' the spokeswoman said.

The 22-month-old toddler girl, rescued from the burning home by her parents, was airlifted to a hospital in the regional capital of Ostrava in a critical condition, medical rescue services said.

She has suffered severe burns on 80 per cent of her body and inhaled fumes, spokesman Lukas Humpl said in a statement.

Her mother, 27, sustained burns on her legs and one arm, while the father, 33, had serious burns on his back and limbs, the statement said.

The incident took place amid rising political activity of far- right and neo-Nazi groups.

On the same night, far-right extremists had embarked on a highly- publicized march through north-western Czech town of Usti nad Labem, home to ghetto-like Roma communities 430 kilometres east of Vitkov.

Czech towns have struggled to ban extremist rallies as their organizers exploit laws that safeguard freedom of assembly.

'It is clear that there is a link between political activation of extremists and direct violence towards inhabitants,' the premier said. He vowed that his outgoing cabinet would discuss the issue on Monday.

Despite such rhetoric, far-right groups have continued their activities unhampered. The government recently failed in its effort to ban one such organisation, the Worker's Party.

Racist-tinged fire bomb attacks, some of them deadly, have also recently shaken Hungary.