Children burn down castle while trying to light cigarettes

Two Slovak children were suspected of burning down a large gothic castle in eastern Slovakia when their experimentation with smoking went wrong.

Police were investigating two boys on suspicion they set grass at the foot of the Krasna Horka castle on fire when they tried to light up cigarettes, said Jana Mesarova, police spokeswoman for the eastern Slovak region of Kosice.

Children under the age of 15 cannot be prosecuted in Slovakia.

“A unit sent to the site found that two local boys, aged 11 and 12, were trying to light up a cigarette and because of careless use of safety matches, they set grass at the castle hill on fire,” Mesarova said.

The castle subsequently caught fire and emergency services deployed 84 firefighters to the scene.

The Slovak National Museum wrote on its Facebook page that damage to the castle was extensive but about 90% of historical collections were saved, including contemporary photographs of furnished castle premises from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, oil paintings and various ornaments.

“The castle’s roof burned down completely, as well as the new exhibition in the gothic palace and the bell tower. Three bells melted,” the museum said.

The castle, near the Unesco-protected Domica Cave, dates back to the early 14th century.

The aristocratic dynasties of Mariassy, Bebekov and Andrassy have all owned the castle in the past.