It's been 10 years since a fire at the Hotel Olympik in Prague's Karlín neighborhood took the lives of seven foreign guests and injured more than 30 on May 26, 1995. But not a day has gone by in the last decade that Daniel Allen hasn't thought about the fire.

Allen's mother Marilyn, 65, and sister, Katie Jacob Allen, 33, had been guests of the hotel, and unsuccessfully tried to escape the fire's toxic fumes. They died of smoke asphyxiation several weeks later. Katie Jacob Allen had been three months pregnant.

Daniel Allen has only now filed suit against the hotel.

"I'm just looking for some kind of justice," Allen said by phone from his home in Laporte, Indiana. "My family and I were forced to watch my mother and sister die this slow and horrible death, and it all could have been prevented."

In 1995, Czech law required only that the hotel's fire safety standards comply with those of the period during which it was built, in this case the 1970s.

But a June 1995 city report on the fire cited the Olympik's lack of more up-to-date safety measures, such as fire- and smoke-proof safety doors.

The Olympik fire provoked international outrage, a reaction that led to modernizing the fire codes up to EU standards.

Back in 1995, after his mother and sister died, the hotel provided Allen with travel and burial expenses, but he said he was told that Czech law does not provide for compensation for the deaths, only for the property lost, even if the hotel committed negligence.

"I always felt that was a bit strange," said Allen, "and now I think it was just plain wrong."

So why did he wait 10 years to file a wrongful death suit?

"I never really recovered from the loss," said Allen, a 45-year-old teacher of English to non-native speakers.

"The pain is like the black soot of the fire that you just can't wash off," he said. "The 10-year anniversary came up, and my family, my brothers and sisters, we wanted to contribute to a charitable fund for education that was set up in my mother's name by the Wabash Community Foundation."

If Allen succeeds with his suit, which seeks $15,000 (372,000 Kč), he says he will put the money directly into the foundation.

"We might as well make something good out of this tragic event," he said.

Wrong place, wrong time

Marilyn Allen had just retired at 65 from her vice president post at Terre Haute First National Bank when she flew to Prague for a vacation with her daughter, who lived in Germany with her husband.

Daniel Allen intended to join them, but missed the plane to Prague.

According to media reports at the time, a greasy rag or some other combustible behind a refrigerator likely caused the fire, which consumed the top floors of the 18-story hotel.

The fire began on the 11th floor, and smoke containing toxins from burning plastics and carpets began rising through an exit door left ajar.

The Allens fled to the top of the hotel, but the Olympik's design made it difficult for firefighters to reach guests.

The firefighters could not open the electronically coded doors to guest rooms after the power went out, and there had been no standby power supply.

Along with three Belgians, two Finns and a German, the Allens suffered fatal smoke inhalation.

As for the Olympik management, Allen described them as uncooperative and not very forthcoming.

"They would rather sweep the issue under the carpet," he said.

The hotel's current director, Vlastislav Šos, declined to be interviewed concerning the Allen case and referred the matter to his lawyer, Ludmila Šunová, who said she couldn't answer any questions because she was still preparing a defense.

Allen's lawyers said they think they have a good case.

A member of his legal team, Lenka Jahelková, said that while a two-year maximum statute of limitations applies to compensation claims for property damage, no such limit exists for wrongful death cases.