Two men were injured in an explosion during a water pipe repair in the Czech town of Kroměříž on Thursday afternoon, one suffering multiple serious injuries.
Police received the alert at around 12:30 local time after the blast occurred near 12:30 p.m. in streets in the centre of the town. Two ambulances and a physician's rendez-vous vehicle were dispatched to the scene. The more seriously injured man was placed on artificial ventilation and airlifted to the emergency department of T. Baťa Regional Hospital in Zlín, while the second patient, with less severe injuries, was taken to the local Kroměříž hospital.
Traffic on Koperníkova and Gen. Svobody streets was fully restored by approximately 16:00. Water utility company Vodovody a kanalizace Kroměříž said the incident involved a water main failure that required suspending drinking water supplies to much of the town.