The 2013 Frenštát Apartment-Block Explosion

At about 3:45 a.m. on February 17, 2013, accumulated gas exploded in an apartment building on 6. května Street in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm. The blast and ensuing fire destroyed the structure. Police ultimately determined that 57-year-old resident Antonín Blažek had intentionally caused the explosion amid longstanding conflicts connected with the building.

The immediate death toll

When police announced their final investigative conclusion in October 2013, the established toll was six people dead in the ruins or immediate disaster, including Blažek himself. That meant five other people had been killed; three were children. Other residents suffered serious injuries, including burns.

Because the perpetrator died in the blast, there could be no prosecution or trial. The investigation nevertheless treated the explosion as a deliberate criminal act rather than an accidental gas disaster.

Police finding: the blast was intentional

On October 24, 2013, Moravian-Silesian investigators publicly confirmed that Blažek had caused the explosion intentionally. Investigators said evidence indicated an effort to destroy the entire building and concluded that the act could have produced an even larger number of casualties.

The final police account examined his conduct before the explosion, the gas installation and the long-running disputes surrounding his apartment. This page does not repeat insulting labels used in some contemporary headlines and does not present neighbor conflict as justification for mass violence.

A later death changes the retrospective toll

A later casualty must be distinguished from the count available when the criminal investigation was closed. In a February 2015 retrospective, iDNES reported that resident Vilém Špaček — who had survived the initial blast with severe injuries — had died after a long struggle with the consequences of those injuries near the end of 2014.

That report described him as the seventh death associated with the Frenštát tragedy when Blažek is included. In other words, later reporting supports a retrospective total of six other victims plus the perpetrator. Crime by Region does not retroactively claim that the October 2013 police closure itself counted Špaček, because he was still alive at that time.

Why the case is classified as solved

The perpetrator’s identity and intentional responsibility were established by the completed police investigation. The case was formally shelved because Blažek died in the explosion, making prosecution impossible. The proper label is therefore Solved / Identified, not adjudicated.

Survivors and institutional review

The destruction displaced surviving residents and prompted public scrutiny of whether prior disputes and warnings could have been handled differently. Those policy and institutional questions are relevant context, but they are not treated here as substitute criminal defendants. The completed homicide investigation attributed the intentional explosion to Blažek.

Timeline

1. February 17, 2013 · about 3:45 a.m.
   Apartment building explodes

   Accumulated gas ignites and destroys the building on 6. května Street in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm.

2. February 17–18, 2013
   Victims recovered

   Rescue crews search the ruins. The immediate disaster ultimately leaves Blažek and five other people dead, including three children.

3. February–October 2013
   Criminal investigation

   Police analyze the gas system, physical evidence and Blažek’s actions before the explosion.

4. October 24, 2013
   Police announce final conclusion

   Investigators confirm that Antonín Blažek deliberately caused the explosion and shelve the case because he died.

5. Late 2014
   Vilém Špaček dies

   A resident who had survived severe injuries later dies from their consequences, according to a 2015 retrospective.

6. February 17, 2015
   Two-year retrospective

   Reporting describes Špaček as the seventh death connected with the tragedy when the perpetrator is included.

Current status

Solved / identified. Police concluded that Antonín Blažek intentionally caused the explosion. He died at the scene, so there was no trial or conviction.