Last Thursday, a previously unknown woman caused damage worth CZK 3 million at the National Museum in Prague. She pressed the button of the fire extinguishing system and released tanks of special gas for extinguishing. Police have released footage of the building and asked for help in finding the perpetrator.
The woman went to visit the new National Museum building after 4 p.m. and police said she was more interested in the building’s fire system than the exhibits. She tried the fire alarm button in one room. Nothing happened, however, because it was a so-called interlock button to cancel and block the alarm.
She repeated the experiment in another room. “She triggered the fire extinguisher system, which consists of releasing a fire extinguishing gas that pushes the air out of the room affected by the fire, effectively eliminating the fire. Thus, she unnecessarily released fire extinguishing gas from two several hundred-kilogram tanks into the room,” said police spokesman Jan Rybanský.
She caused damage worth CZK 3 million. Detectives found out that the woman speaks Czech, is between 20 and 25 years old, has a smaller build and, according to CCTV footage, could live in the vicinity of the I.P. Pavlova metro station in Prague 2.
Information on the identity of the woman will be received by the 158 number. Police are currently investigating the case as a criminal offence of damaging and endangering the operation of a public utility. She faces up to six years in prison.