Stunned Silence in Prague, Young People Horrified - On Site Report + Photos

Horrifying and shocking was how some young people in the Czech capital described to Magyar Nemzet's reporter the mass shooting on Charles University campus on Thursday, in which 15 people died. From late at night until early into the morning, mourners prayed and lit candles at the site in memory of the victims.

A prágai merénylet után a halottkémek szállítják ki a megmaradt maradványokat. (ORIGO/Csudai Sándor)

The streets of Prague's city center echo of emptiness, only police cars and commandos roam the streets, and the occasional desperate passer-by stares blankly at the university building. The building is surrounded by journalists, wanting to take photos and make interviews about the tragedy.

Young people in Prague remember the victims who were killed by the Czech mass shooter. Photo: Sandor Csudai

One of the Russian female students grieving with her Ukrainian friends told our reporter,
 

We are totally shocked. We live five minutes from here, we heard the sirens of police and ambulances all day, the place was full of officers at around two or three o'clock. We were watching the news all day. Now we are crying and we want to remember this heartbreaking event with candles in our hands.

Shortly afterwards, another group of shocked local young people arrived at the scene of the horrific terrorist act, pacing up and down the streets. Their faces were white with horror. The young men from Prague, in their twenties, spoke about their experience with shock in their voice:

We work here at the end of the street and suddenly we heard gunshots. Everyone was terribly scared, no one dared to go outside because we were afraid that something would go wrong. Everyone was horrified that they might get involved, so we stayed inside. It was just terrible.

A short time later, a lone young man was wandering through the completely sealed off area, looking as if  he didn't know who he was. He was obviously at a loss. In a quiet, slightly trembling voice, he said 

In the city centre, everything is the same as before: people are having fun, behaving as if nothing had happened. Inside, however, everything is different. After what happened in Ukraine, in Gaza, where people die day after day, now this happens here. I work twenty minutes from here and know this place, but I wanted to see for myself what this feels like. It completely changes your perception of the world.

Prague has changed completely in one day. What used to be a friendly, welcoming and vibrant city of entertainment has now become an empty, cold, and dreary place blocked off by police. The peaceful world seems to be changing all the more. 

Cover photo: Crime scene investigators at work after the Prague shooting (Photo: Sandor Csudai)