At least 10 people have died and dozens have been injured, nine of them seriously, in a shooting at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of Charles University, located in Jan Palach Square, in the center of Prague, according to local media. . The motivation behind the attack is currently unknown.
As specified by the security forces in a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter), the attacker is already dead. With him, there are 11 deaths. The emergency services have explained that among the injured, who are being transferred to the military hospital for treatment, there are people who are in a critical situation and others have minor injuries.
In the center of Prague the police have cut off access to the Charles Bridge. Alana, a tourist guide who was working with a group of four people in the area, recounts by phone the confusion that was experienced in the first moments, when the agents prevented access to one of the most touristic areas of one of the the most visited European capitals. The authorities have also diverted bus and tram routes in the area, and have closed the metro station closest to the college.
Alana, who studied Hispanic Philology at that college, admitted feeling “in shock.” “I know the faculty, and the professors,” she details, and she wonders if any of them are among the injured. “Besides, I have a friend there and he doesn't respond to me,” she adds, already nervous on the way to her house.
Interior Minister Vít Rakusan has urged citizens not to go to the scene of the shooting, where emergency teams are working. “I want to reassure the public, the shooter has been eliminated, no other attacker has been confirmed,” the minister told local media.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe
“I do not want to comment on the motivation of the shooter at this time, we continue to map the situation,” said Rakusan, who announced that he will later appear alongside those responsible for the security forces and the Prime Minister, Petr Fiala. . “The police arrived at the scene in a matter of minutes,” he stressed. “At the moment no relationship can be confirmed with the case being investigated in Klánovice,” he stated, in relation to an event in which two people died.
Witnesses and students who were at the faculty recount scenes of terror. Those responsible sent messages to the staff to lock themselves in the classrooms and not move. “Don't go anywhere, if you are in the offices, close them and put furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights,” the email said.
Follow all the international information on Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter.
#dead #dozens #injured #shooting #center #Prague