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Powerful blast rocks central Prague

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posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 05:52 AM
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Powerful blast rocks central Prague


www.bbc.co.uk

A powerful explosion in the centre of Prague has injured up to 40 people and left several others buried under rubble, police have said.

The blast in a building on Divadelni Street, close to the National Theatre, was heard as far away as Prague Castle, over a mile away across the Vltava river.

It blew out the windows on many of the surrounding buildings which were evacuated
(visit the link for the full news article)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 05:52 AM
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Apparently this was a gas explosion.
A number of people are injured, but thankfully no one was killed...as far as media reports say so far.

3 people are feared trapped in rubble, but this is still unconfirmed.



It seems the old infrastructure needs looking at worldwide, lack of investment is now causing harm and injury. How many explosions have we had in this last week?

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 05:54 AM
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I live in Prague (but 20 minutes from where the blast happened.) I'll check local news reports here and see what I can get for members. Give me a few minutes.

Just btw we get gas explosions in buildings a couple of times a year on average here. Some of the infrastructure is old and in poor condition and also the workers are not always working very safely. Like, they smoke on the job, etc.

Mike

edit on 29/4/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 05:59 AM
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Okay, update from "24" (TV channel). Interview with fireman: three or four people dead, up to 40 injured, most not seriously, about 220 people evauated from area, Smetanovo Nabrezi (a road by the river) closed to all traffic.

The cause of the explosion is still being investigated.


edit on 29/4/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 05:59 AM
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reply to post by JustMike
 


Thanks Mike


Heres some footage of the damage, looks pretty bad





posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:03 AM
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reply to post by AmberLeaf
 

Yes, it looks bad.

More video is on Idnes (news site here) at this link (Note: Czech language only. I'll try to note and transcribe anything important in a couple of minutes.)

There'll be an ad at the start but you can click on the little white bar to skip it after 15 seconds.

Okay, the Police officer near the beginning of video clip (around 8 seconds) says "Unika tam plyn, jestli to bouchne, zabije i nas. Bezte pryc."

Translation: "Gas is leaking there, if it explodes it'll kill us as well. Get (Run) away from here."

This doesn't mean that gas caused the explosion (though it's likely). It means there is now gas leaking. I would expect the main has been shut off by now.

edit on 29/4/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:07 AM
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Additional thread existing thread.

Reopened under the two thread rule.
edit on 29-4-2013 by Gemwolf because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:32 AM
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Thank you, Gemwolf. (For members' info, the two-thread rule allows a thread in Breaking Alternative News and one on the identical topic in another forum. This thread is mainly to discuss the news aspects, the other could consider it in light of "Current Events".)

Latest info I have from channel 24 (news channel here) as of about two minutes ago: 35 injured, one seriously. Three or perhaps four people may have been killed inside the building and buried in rubble, but that can't be confirmed until the building is fully inspected to determine if it's safe for recovery efforts.

According to a building inspector interviewed a few minutes ago, a gas leak is the most likely cause of the explosion. From the damage, the explosion occurred at ground floor level.



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:33 AM
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Originally posted by JustMike
reply to post by AmberLeaf
 

Yes, it looks bad.

More video is on Idnes (news site here) at this link (Note: Czech language only. I'll try to note and transcribe anything important in a couple of minutes.)

There'll be an ad at the start but you can click on the little white bar to skip it after 15 seconds.

Okay, the Police officer near the beginning of video clip (around 8 ceconds) says "Unika tam plyn, jestli to bouchne, zabije i nas. Bezte pryc."

Translation: "Gas is leaking there, if it explodes it'll kill us as well. Get (Run) away from here."

This doesn't mean that gas caused the explosion (though it's likely). It means there is now gas leaking. I would expect the main has been shut off by now.
edit on 29/4/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)




Here is the video on youtube.

That was a hell of an explosion by the look of things, lucky more people were not injured or killed.

The story says the blast came from the building where the International Air Transport Association (IATA) were based, the news is rather vague in the UK, it doesnt say it was from inside the building, just that a supposed gas leak had caused the explosion.
edit on 29-4-2013 by AmberLeaf because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:42 AM
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reply to post by AmberLeaf
 

The expert opinion by a building inspector interviewed a short while ago on TV here, is that the explosion was from inside the building, most likely the ground floor. He has inspected buildings after gas explosions in the past and that's his opinion from viewing video footage.

They have just been interviewing Miloslav Ludvik, director of Motol hospital here, which is our biggest emergency trauma centre. They put their disaster plan into action right away and have surgical teams on standby. Meanwhile, he confirms they have four patients, three with lesser injuries, mainly lacerations from flying glass, and one in more serious condition, whose injuries he did not specify.

However, they will keep the surgical teams on standby as there may be seriously injured people still to be recovered from inside the building.

At present, the official confirmation is 35 injured, one seriously, and three or four possibly dead but not yet recovered because they are still inside the building.

More as I get hold of the info.



edit on 29/4/13 by JustMike because: typos



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:50 AM
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reply to post by JustMike
 


Ah right, sorry i think it is because some of the images show a building missing glass and not the actual building where the explosion happened.

The images showing a building missing glass i assume are opposite the building where the blast occurred....the building where the blast happened is the building with all the rubble outside.



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:52 AM
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A "before and after" picture of Divadelni Ulice (Theatre Street), where the explosion occurred:

(Pic courtesy of Centrum CZ.)

The National Theatre is in the background. It's the building with the bronze statue on the roof.
edit on 29/4/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:54 AM
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reply to post by AmberLeaf
 

Yes, I've just heard reports that they are keeping the streets there closed not just because the resecue/recovery is still ongoing, but due to the risk of broken windows dropping in to the street.

I've not found any specific reports about IATA being in that building. Still looking round. But they have only a small presence in Prague. Most of this region is handled by their Bucharest Office.



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:56 AM
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reply to post by JustMike
 


Is the theatre having work done on it? Maybe this has something to do with a gas leak?

Its fairly easy to damage gas pipes during renovation works, i myself have nearly pulled a gas pipe from the ground with an excavator in my younger days.

From the comments linked on the 24 site


As with the recent explosion in the Boston Marathon, some - most likely American - CNN confuse readers Czech Chechnya. "All these Muslim nations are the same," writes example, in discussing the article about an explosion in Prague reader with the nickname Upright Sausage. But I should add that most of the contributions reflects the knowledge that the Czech Republic and rebellious Caucasian countries is a difference.

edit on 29-4-2013 by AmberLeaf because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 06:59 AM
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Another image but from a different angle.

(Image courtesy of Ceske Noviny (Czech News)
This one clearly shows collapsed celings/floors inside the building and also indicates the greatest damage was on the ground floor. So anyone inside on that floor at the time would have been lucky to escape without serious injury.

I supect that authorities have reports of people known to have been on the ground floor at the time, which is why there have been reports that some people may have died there.

Awful scene. I love this city. I've lived here almost twenty years and this is tragic.



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 07:06 AM
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reply to post by AmberLeaf
 

The explosion wasn't in the Theatre. In the image I posted above yours, the National Theatre is the building in the background at the end of the street. This explosion was in a building on a street that leads to the Theatre.

In a phone interview on TV right now, an official advises the building where the explosion happened is state property and there is no record of any reconstruction work being done there at this time. (Just to explain, in a state building all work has to be done according to strict rules and a plan must be submitted first and pemission obtained.)

EDIT: for any Czech or Czech-origin members who may have relatives or friends in Divadelni Ulice, there is a crisis number if you need to call for information.

Cislo je: 800 100 991

edit on 29/4/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 07:14 AM
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reply to post by JustMike
 





The explosion wasn't in the Theatre. In the image I posted above yours, the National Theatre is the building in the background at the end of the street. This explosion was in a building on a street that leads to the Theatre.


Sorry, i didn't mean the explosion was in the theatre, im speculating that the renovation works in the theatre may have contributed to the blast. It looks like there are some building works being carried out in the theatre by the scaffolding and banner thing hanging from the side, as shown in the picture you uploaded.

If the works damaged a gas main, or pipe this could be the reason there was a leak?



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 07:18 AM
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Need to add that anyone who confuses the Czech Republic with Chechnya needs to look at a map or go to the wikipedia pages or something and stop being so incredibly ignorant. It's not like the info is hard to find or anything.


Most Czechs are not church-goers, but those who do are mainly Catholics. Around 10% of Czechs claim Catholicism, and 9% or so claim another denomination or faith. Most are not that interested in religion at all.

There are very few Muslims here. As I mentioned somewhere else on here some days back, one of the main Czech past times is drinking beer, or talking about beer. Seeing as Muslims don't drink alcohol -- well, you can see that this country is very different from Chechnya in that respect.



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 07:24 AM
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reply to post by AmberLeaf
 

Oh, I follow what you mean.

The National Theatre is undergoing general repairs to the facade. Here's a press release about it in English from Oct 2012: The Renovation of the Facade of the National Theatre Is Successfully Progressing

So, it's generally exterior work and above ground, which is why it's got the scaffolding and hessian round it. But in any case, it's a way down the street from the building where the explosion happened and it would be highly unlikely that a leak at the National Theatre would affect a building that far away.



posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 07:30 AM
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reply to post by AmberLeaf
 


Another one.

I sensed another gas explosion was imminent!!

I was going to post about it in the Prediction Forums but forgot.




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