New Year's Eve celebrated with fireworks in Prague city centre despite ban

The ban on fireworks in the centre of Prague that has been in effect since 2020 did not stop people from using them in large quantities as the clock struck midnight on December 31. The police handed out fines to dozens of people violating the ban, according to the Czech News Agency. However, by midnight there were already so many people setting off fireworks that the police were not able to deal with them all.

The police and emergency services were out in force in the centre of Prague. Ambulances were stationed in readiness and hundreds of police officers were there supervising. Before midnight, the celebrations in the city centre had been relatively peaceful, according to the statements of police and rescue workers. However, a man did attack a police officer on Wenceslas Square, causing him to end up in hospital with a head injury, and some fireworks set off in Ve Smečkách Street caused damage to around 30 windows.

According to a spokeswoman for the Prague police, the police dealt with more than 500 calls in the 12-hour period from 6 pm on New Year's Eve to 6 am on New Year's Day, with roughly half of them occurring in the first four hours of Sunday morning. Ten people were arrested for misdemeanours and one person was detained for committing a violent crime against a police officer. Police spokeswoman Violeta Siřišťová told the Czech News Agency that this year's New Year's Eve celebrations were comparable to the years before the coronavirus epidemic.

The ambulance service described this year's New Year's celebrations in Prague as calmer compared to the years before the coronavirus pandemic. Paramedics recorded 81 events in connection with the celebrations, including six fireworks-related injuries. Some 28 people were treated in ambulances on Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square during the night, and 10 people were taken to medical facilities.

Firefighters recorded a similar number of fires as last year, according to Prague fire department spokesman Martin Kavka. Firefighters responded to 55 fires caused by fireworks in Prague, mainly burning bushes, dumpsters and recycling containers. Last year the number was 57. This year, firefighters also dealt with an electric car fire, helping people down who got stuck in a chimney, and rescuing some people who ran into trouble on a boat on the river Vltava.