A tragedy occurred in Graz’s Sporgasse on New Year’s Day. At around 4 a.m. a fire broke out in the entrance area of the popular Stern Bar. 21 local visitors were injured, some seriously. A young woman was killed. As the police announced on Monday evening, it was a 21-year-old from the Mödling district. The restaurant burned down.
“It all happened so quickly. When I saw the fire, I just watched for the people to come out,” a 29-year-old from Graz told the “Kleine Zeitung”. He was among those who were in the restaurant on Monday morning. He suddenly saw the flames, but didn’t hear a loud bang: “That could also have been because of the music.” He himself ran to the back exit of the restaurant with other guests. Other guests ran to the front door. Postscript: “The shock is still deep, I still have to process it all.”
The foyer of the bar has now been identified as the location of the outbreak, and “any technical cause is currently being ruled out,” according to an investigator. It is not clear whether negligent handling of fire or a firecracker caused the fire. Unfortunately, the fire quickly spread to furnishings and decorative items. The heavy smoke caused chaos and smoke poisoning.
Ultimately, most of them made it outside: the Red Cross was there with 10 rescue cars and 40 staff. A first aid center was quickly set up at Karmeliterplatz to care for the injured and distribute them to the hospitals. Two people are in the intensive care unit at the LKH University Hospital Graz with third-degree burns. According to ORF-Steiermark, they were operated on and their condition is stable. Two other patients are being treated for severe smoke poisoning.
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New Year’s Eve: Fire in Graz bar with many injured and 1 dead
