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Police and transport specialists have reconstructed events which led to a tram crash that occurred in the northeastern Czech city of Ostrava on Friday. The head-on collision, which claimed three lives, occurred on a single track used for trams going in both directions. Monday’s reconstruction was undertaken in order to find out the precise circumstances behind the accident. Czech police have confirmed that the investigation into the incident may take several months. At present, human error on the part of one of the drivers – both of whom survived the crash - is being seen as the most likely cause.

Newly released figures suggest that last year the Czech Republic saw record levels of immigration with around 84,000 people moving into the country. An academic study from Charles University also suggests that the country has become the number one destination for immigration among post-communist European states. Some figures estimate that with an ageing populace, up to a third of the Czech population may comprise of immigrants by 2065, with people from Ukraine, Vietnam and China forming the largest immigrant communities. Recent government initiatives have been designed to make immigration into the country easier.

In Ostrava, a special anti-drug police unit known as “Toxi” has broken up one of the biggest pervitin producing networks in the country. Czech police made the announcement Monday. The group, which is said to have made as much as a million crowns, was reportedly under surveillance from last September, allegedly making around 50,000 crowns worth of pervitin a day. The drugs were then sold on to dealers throughout the region. The abuse of pervitin or methamphetamine has been on a rise in the Czech Republic.

The Labour and Social Affairs Minister Petr Nečas said on Sunday that the government coalition would further discuss plans to site a US radar on Czech soil before bringing any bill to parliament. In an interview with Czech Television, Mr Nečas said that further negotiation was needed with the Civic Democrat’s coalition partners to maximize the bill’s chances of success. On the same programme, a member of the coalition, Green MP Olga Zubová, said that she did not agree with the construction of the base under the current conditions, and would not be supporting the bill. The government needs a majority in the Lower House – 101 votes – to pass the bill. It currently has less than this number of votes pledged, with two Green MPs, and Christian Democrat Ludvík Hovorka having serious doubts about which way to vote, and Social Democrat defectors Miloš Melčák and Michal Pohanka also reticent to approve the base.