The Slovak government, at an extraordinary session on Tuesday, August 31, declared a national day of mourning on Thursday, September 2, to commemorate the victims of the shooting rampage which took place in the Bratislava suburb of Devínska Nová Ves on Monday, the TASR newswire reported. State flags will be flown at half-mast between 08:00 and 18:00 on Thursday, Prime Minister Iveta Radičová announced on Tuesday.
Ľubomír Harman, 48, shot dead five members of a Roma family in their own home before going on a shooting spree. The rampage claimed the lives of a total of eight people, including Harman himself, with another 15 people injured.
The government’s announcement marks the sixth instance of an official day of mourning being declared in Slovakia. The last such day was on April 18 this year, when Slovakia remembered the victims of the plane crash on April 10 that killed the president of neighbouring Poland, Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria and another 94 people, many of them senior members of Poland’s government, army and clergy.
The Slovak government also decided to provide financial compensation to those wounded and bereaved by Monday’s shootings, Radičová added. The Labour, Social Affairs and Family Ministry will provide humanitarian aid amounting to €829.85 per person, along with a €79.67 contribution towards funeral costs. The Labour Office in Devínska Nová Ves will draw up the lists of bereaved and wounded persons and provide the financial aid.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
