Police car falls from Hlávka Bridge into the Vltava in Prague

At around eight o'clock this morning in Prague, a police car smashed through the barrier on Hlávka Bridge and fell into the Vltava. The woman and man inside, aged between 25 and 30, survived: their lives are not in danger and they are not injured, but both are suffering from hypothermia.

“For reasons not yet known, a police car was involved in an accident on Hlávka Bridge, broke through the barrier and fell from the bridge into the Vltava,” police spokesman Jan Rybanský said. Camera footage shows the car skidding on the tram tracks before the crash, at the end of the bridge in the direction of the city centre.

Three rescue crews, a doctor and an inspector were called to the scene. According to ambulance service spokeswoman Jana Poštová, a runner who jumped into the water to help the victims was also there. All the people suffering from hypothermia were handed over to paramedics and taken to hospital.

Hlávka Bridge connects Wilsonova Street on the border of Nové Město and Karlín with Bubenská Street in Holešovice.

The circumstances are being investigated: it is unclear who was driving and who the third person was who pulled the people out of the water. They cannot yet be questioned because of their medical condition. Oversight bodies are working at the scene. According to Rybanský, the Prague police internal control department is already handling the case, and the General Inspection of Security Forces will probably join in.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz