A fire on Saturday evening at the Staroměstská metro station severely damaged the escalators and led to the temporary closure of the station. Prague Public Transport expects repairs to take around one month.
Following the fire at the Staroměstská metro station on Saturday evening, Prague Public Transport (Dopravní podnik Praha, DPP) estimates that repairs to the escalators damaged by the incident, along with the associated closure, will take about a month. This was announced by a spokesperson for the transport company on Monday afternoon.
The station on Line A has been closed since last weekend after a cable fire broke out. According to police, the fire was allegedly caused by someone throwing a burning object. The criminal investigation department is investigating on suspicion of negligent endangerment and now knows the identities of six young people who were being sought in connection with the incident.
Originally, only some of the escalators in the station were scheduled for repair, but the fire also damaged the remaining equipment. “DPP technicians are working flat out to get the escalators back into operation as quickly as possible and reopen the station. The escalators must be completely cleaned of fire damage, damaged cables replaced, and the mechanical condition of the parts checked. We expect repairs to take about a month,” a spokesperson explained. A more precise schedule can only be drawn up after the moving parts have been cleaned and technically inspected.
The fire brigade was called out at around midnight on Saturday and was able to extinguish the fire quickly. Several dozen people had to be evacuated from the station due to the fire. Since then, the station has been out of service, and underground trains are only passing through without stopping.
On Sunday, the police released CCTV footage showing a group of six young people who could help clarify the incident. On Monday morning, investigators announced they knew the identities of four of the suspects and were searching for the remaining two. In the afternoon, the police announced they had identified all six suspects and had begun interrogations. A video showing the start of the fire was also released.
