Plzeň garage collapse traps 18-year-old Ukrainian in Czechia

Last Thursday, a garage that was being rebuilt partly collapsed in Plzeň's Doubravka district, trapping an 18-year-old Ukrainian citizen under the rubble. Firefighters pulled him out, and paramedics took the injured man to hospital.

According to police spokeswoman Michaela Rejndlová, the garage on Skalní Street was undergoing reconstruction when it partly collapsed. Unofficially, the young man was reportedly alone at the site. For that reason, the authorities are likely to check whether he was working illegally.

Radovan Burkovič, president of the Association of Employment Agencies, suggested it could have been illegal casual work or employment. “It is strange that he was the only one dismantling the garage and no one else was there,” he said. He added that foreigners are very often hired illegally in construction, and that such people can become victims of exploitation.

The State Labour Inspection Office is looking into the case, its spokesman Richard Kolibáč confirmed. Criminal investigators are also involved: police spokeswoman Dagmar Mifková said criminal proceedings have been opened on suspicion of negligently causing grievous bodily harm.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz