Prague, Sept 13 (CTK) – Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec tasked Police President Tomas Tuhy with checking the situation in the zone around the ammunition dump in Vrbetice, south Moravia, the ministry announced on Wednesday in relation to suspected thefts of arms and ammunition scattered in the forests by the blasts that occurred in the dump in 2014.
“First of all, I am glad that the police caught the perpetrators and prevented further damage being caused. But I of course want this place not to bring about any further risks for the locals,” Chovanec said.
He said it must be decided whether the stealing of arms was possible due to a mistake of particular people or due to a failure of the security system of the whole area.
The Czech police prosecute five people over the thefts of guns and explosives from Vrbetice. Two of them have been charged with illegal arms possession. They tried to sell a part of the guns they stole.
When it turned out that the explosions damaged the security system preventing trespassing on the ammunition dump, the police started guarding the area more heavily.
Regional police chief Jaromir Tkadlecek said he considers the adopted security measures sufficient. He said it can never be absolutely guaranteed that similar cases do not repeat. It is unrealistic to prevent all possible attempts at entering the area, he indicated.
Two buildings in the ammunition dump were destroyed by explosions in October and December 2014. The first explosion claimed two lives. The police investigate the explosions as a wilful endangering of public safety. All ammunition was removed from the area afterwards.
