Precautions in a hospital at the town of Pilsen, photo: CTK
Two months after an unknown assailant threatened to detonate a bomb in public in the town of Olomouc, in eastern Moravia, Czech authorities appear to have a similar case on their hands: an anonymous caller threatening to plant cyanide in patients' hospital food unless he receives 300 million crowns. Already this month two ampoules containing the deadly poison were uncovered at a Prague hospital, an indication the blackmailer wants his message not only taken seriously, but may be willing to carry out his threat.
Precautions at a hospital in the town of Pilsen, photo: CTK
Another case of blackmail, another anonymous assailant, the second to appear since March, when an unknown caller aimed to cause a public panic in the eastern region of Olomouc. The warning then: that the assailant would detonate bombs in and around the city, a threat that ultimately went unrealised, but was treated with utmost seriousness all the same. With that case, as with the cyanide blackmailer, police are prepared to negotiate. Anything to prevent a threat from being realised, says Interior Minister Stanislav Gross:
"I can tell you when the blackmailer first made himself heard. It was on the 5th of May. Then, I believe on the 9th there was contact over the planted ampoules. We have been in contact several times since... of course we are prepared to negotiate."
Precautions at a hospital in the town of Pilsen, photo: CTK
On Tuesday Gross indicated that police would do everything to communicate with the blackmailer, who is asking for 300 million crowns by the deadline of this Thursday. Meanwhile, Czech hospitals have taken necessary precautions and tightened security at hospital kitchens and cafeterias: according to some reports the 'warning' ampoules with the deadly poison found in the Prague hospital, were in a maternity ward kitchen. Police spokeswoman Blanka Kosinova, however, stressed that the placement of the ampoules was such that "nobody was in any danger". Still, the thought of cyanide - an extremely fast-acting poison causing asphyxiation leading to death - planted in any hospital - is obviously a chilling one. Understandably, some facilities are now even testing samples of patients' food. Interior Minister Stanislav Gross says there is no need for panic, stressing that police are doing everything in their power to minimise any possible danger. The Czech Republic, with no long history of anonymous threats, facing its second in just a manner of months.
