The czech republic. Fire at the National Theater in Prague. Authorities are assessing the damage

The Prague Fire Department reported a fire in the dressing room of the National Theater after 3 p.m. on Tuesday. The social media entry was accompanied by a recording and a photo showing smoke coming from a historic building in the center of Prague. Two hours later, the fire brigade reported that the fire was under control. “100 people were voluntarily evacuated from the building, one person was injured,” it was reported.

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The National Theater later said on social media that “thanks to the quick intervention” of the services, the damage was minimized and the operation of the theater in the following days “should not be threatened.” – We would like to thank the firefighters, but also policemen and paramedics for their quick and professional intervention that saved priceless goods – said the director of the National Theater, Jan Burian, quoted in the institution's Tuesday post on Facebook.

The damage caused by the fire was initially estimated at 10 million crowns (equivalent to approximately PLN 1.7 million), the fire brigade spokesman announced on Wednesday. The police are investigating the circumstances of the fire “in terms of a possible crime of endangering safety through negligence.” As initially determined, the fire broke out in the shaft, which was ignited by construction waste.

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The representative building of the National Theater in Prague was erected on the site of the previous building, which burned down in 1881, before construction was completed. “The entire nation collected money for the construction of this 'Golden Chapel', as this neo-Renaissance building with gilded gilding is called” – writes the Czech Tourism Office on its website.