News

A seven-year-old girl from Ostrava, in Moravia, has died after eating a meal of poisonous mushrooms. A hospital spokesperson said the child had been brought in suffering from severe stomach pains and that despite intensive treatment doctors had been unable to save her life. Mushroom picking is a popular summer pastime in the Czech Republic and millions of Czechs pick wild mushrooms in the forest rather than shopping for them in the supermarket. Despite repeated warnings of the dangers, several people die of mushroom poisoning every year.

Officers in Prague have collected 300,000 crowns in fines for alcohol consumption in public places where drinking is now off-limits. An alcohol ban was introduced in several parts of the city centre at the beginning of July of this year within the City Hall’s drive to make Prague a cleaner and safer city for both locals and tourists.

Despite recent storms in some parts of the country, scientists are warning of dangerously low groundwater levels across the country. River levels are falling and wells are drying up, according to the Czech Hydrological Institute. New figures presented by the institute suggest that water levels are at anywhere between 60 to 20 percent of normal levels, with smaller streams faring worst. River systems, such as the Berounka, Litavka and Sázava are believed to be in the worst condition with significantly reduced water flows. In some places, once deep rivers can now be crossed on foot, warns the Institute. Changing weather patterns are believed to be the cause of the problem, with short bursts of rain insufficient to replenish water levels. Mild winters are also believed to have played a role. According to scientists, the country would need a prolonged period of around 3cm per day precipitation in order for water levels to begin to recover.

New figures from the Czech Transport Ministry suggest that since the new points system was introduced for drivers in 2006 10,754 people have lost their licenses. Prior to the points system, drivers were able to pay fines for traffic violations, leading to criticism that drivers, particularly wealthy ones could essentially escape responsibility for reckless driving. The Czech government changed the rules in order to battle high numbers of traffic accidents in the country. The new figures also detail that 575, 731 drivers were given penalty points – there are currently an estimated 6.3 million driving license holders in the country according to the Transport Ministry. These numbers indicate that around 15 percent of drivers do not have so-called “clean licences” a number three percent lower than in Germany. Further evidence that the points system appears to be working is that fatalities on Czech roads have fallen by around ten percent from the previous year.