Prague, Feb 12 (CTK) – The Prague City Hall director’s office will manage the installation of concrete barriers against vehicle-ramming attacks, according to the principles on their distribution to be discussed on Tuesday by the municipal council.
Their installation may be requested by the police, an emergency staff or the Interior Ministry.
The barriers will be automatically deployed when a second or higher degree of emergency due to a terrorism threat is declared.
Eight target places have been located for their primary placement.
Last year, Prague applied these barriers during the Advent period on Wenceslas and Republic squares in the city centre.
According to the principles on the barriers’ distribution, the City Hall director’s office is to receive requests from the emergency staff”s operational centre. It will then ask the City Hall or municipal district transport department for permission on the barriers’ placement and order its services company to distribute them in streets.
Prague originally borrowed the barriers, but decided to buy its own, purchasing 133 blocks including railing and traffic signs worth 631,225 crowns and saving approximately 388,671 crowns in five months of using them.
The placement of barriers responds to global terrorism threats and vehicle-ramming attacks that occurred in Barcelona, London and Stockholm in 2017. The French city of Nice experienced an especially tragic attack in July 2016, encountering 86 casualties.
