Child leaves tap running, flooding historic Klagenfurt building

A tap left running by a child caused extensive water damage to a historic building in Klagenfurt overnight, ORF reported. The building was briefly closed after firefighters feared parts of it might collapse.

Employees at a tax consultancy on St. Veiter Ring raised the alarm at about 6 a.m. on Thursday after water began dripping from the first-floor ceiling. Meeting rooms on the ground floor were flooded.

Firefighters called in a structural engineer to assess whether the building was at risk. The source of the water was soon identified as an apartment on the top floor, where a hose ran through the rooms to the balcony.

According to initial information, a child had forgotten to turn off the tap after watering flowers on the balcony on Wednesday. The tap apparently remained open throughout the night.

“Many rooms have unfortunately become unusable, and our Biedermeier furniture has also been damaged,” said Peter Katschnig of the affected tax consultancy. The structural engineer had determined that the building itself was not in danger, he said.

The lower rooms were initially cordoned off because they were believed to have suffered the most damage. Client documents were also stored there, and Katschnig said he could not yet assess how much had been damaged.

The total cost of the damage is not yet known. An extensive renovation of the historic rooms is expected.