The prosecutor charged the repairman for the fire at the Libušín cottage

Prague - The state prosecutor has charged a fifty-year-old man from Karviná with endangering the public due to the fire at the Libušín lodge in Pustevny. According to him, in 2007, he neglected the repair of the chimney structure. The national cultural monument, which served as a restaurant, burned down in early March 2014, and the restoration will cost tens of millions. Czech Television reported today about the filing of the indictment.

"Through the investigation, the detectives found that the fire was not intentionally set and that the cause of the fire was not a defect in the electrical installation. Further information led the police investigator to charge the fifty-year-old man from Karviná with the crime of endangering the public," said Vladislav Malcharczik, spokesman for the Vsetín police, to ČTK in early May. Investigators identified the chimney structure as the site of the fire. The indicted man participated in its repair, which, according to Malcharczik, he was responsible for.

The damage caused by the fire was initially estimated at more than 50 million crowns. According to an agreement recently concluded by the Wallachian Open Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, which manages the monument, with the contractor Archatt, the restoration of the monument will cost less than 80 million crowns.

The original Libušín lodge was built in 1899 based on the design by architect Dušan Jurkovič. The interior was adorned with frescoes depicting Wallachian and Slovak legends designed by Mikoláš Aleš. Unique were three Art Nouveau chandeliers, a sideboard, a greenhouse, and clocks. The furnishings also included one hundred carved chairs.

This year, workers are expected to dismantle the remains of Libušín, and in the autumn, the extraction of selected wood will begin. The construction of a new building is set to start in the spring of next year.