News

A charity collection set up overnight to help the victims of the tornado that hit South Moravia on Thursday had already received around CZK 10 million from the public at 8 am on Friday. Over 10,000 people have already contributed to the Nadace Via collection.

Other charities have also set up collections, including the Brno Dioceses Charity.

In addition many people in the area offered help and accommodation to those most affected by the disaster on Thursday evening, including via social media.

Villages in South Moravia have suffered major damage after being hit by a reported tornado on Thursday evening. A spokesperson for the fire service in the region told Czech Television that there had been massive destruction in seven villages and that it could not be ruled out that there were people beneath buildings that had collapsed.

Hrušky in the Břeclav area was among the worst hit, with the deputy mayor saying half of the village had been flattened. The Hodonín area has also borne the brunt of the destruction.

Amateur videos and photos posted on social media showed very strong winds as well as damaged vehicles and buildings with windows blown out and roofs blown off.

A meteorologist told Czech TV that it had likely been a force three or four tornado and was the strongest seen in the country’s modern history.

The governor of South Moravia called a meeting of the regional crisis team and the army has been deployed.

Rescue teams said they had dealt with hundreds of injured persons. The fire service reported early on Friday morning that at least three people had died.

The police said that a number of municipalities were being closed to civilian vehicles in view of the situation. Neighbouring countries Slovakia and Austria also sent rescue teams to the area.

President Miloš Zeman thanked the rescue services for providing assistance during this sudden natural disaster.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says that while relations between the Czech Republic and Russia are currently at freezing point it would be wrong for the Prague and Moscow governments to cease communicating. He made the comment before an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday at which a joint German and French proposal for a meeting of EU leaders and Russia’s Vladimir Putin will be discussed.

Mr. Babiš refused to reveal what position Prague would take on such a summit, saying it would depend on how other EU leaders responded to the idea.

The Czech Republic expelled dozens of Russian diplomats earlier this year after saying that Russian agents had been behind deadly explosions on Czech territory in 2014.

Carmaker Škoda Auto will completely halt part of its production next week due to a shortage of computer chips and other parts, the trade union newspaper at the company said. The firm has not confirmed this news.

On Wednesday the head of production and logistics at Škoda Auto told the news site iHned.cz that a lack of chips was preventing it from completing up to 5,000 cars a week. It has around 33,000 unfinished cars standing in its lots.