The firefighters, with the help of tanks, pulled the remains of the Troja footbridge from the Vltava

Prague - The firefighters completed the extraction of the remains of the Troja footbridge from the Vltava River this evening. They arrived at the site around noon, and the actual extraction of the bridge's remains took less than two hours. The firefighters used two recovery tanks for the lift. As found out on-site by a ČTK reporter, the footbridge was successfully pulled out of the river in one piece. This was the goal of the operation, so that experts and the police could investigate the debris as thoroughly as possible in the coming weeks.

The footbridge collapsed on December 2 in the afternoon, injuring four people. The causes are still unknown. The collapse of the footbridge was also discussed today by Prague city councilors. The opposition unsuccessfully proposed the dismissal of Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) and her deputy Petr Dolínek (ČSSD) over the incident.

Today's operation involved firefighters who began preparatory work as early as noon. A total of around forty people were involved, including divers who ultimately did not have to take action, machine operators, and equipment operators.

The extraction of the wreckage began after 5:00 PM and ended before 7:00 PM. Excavators first cleared the remains of the bridge to the riverbank and piled soil there to create a stable platform for the recovery tanks. Firefighters then secured chains to the structure of the collapsed bridge. They also placed logs on the bank to facilitate the movement of the lifted structure. From the moment the firefighters arrived at the site, the operation lasted four hours.

Operation commander Miloš Němec told reporters in the evening that the section of the footbridge being lifted today weighed 100 tons. The entire several dozen meters long piece was ultimately pulled out intact, which was the intention. "Each intact piece was pulled out for the purposes of the investigation, as the criminal justice authorities would not be able to determine the traces and markers needed for the investigation on the divided structure," said Němec.

If it were not necessary to keep the structure intact for investigative purposes, the demolition company would have broken it into smaller pieces, which would have made the work easier. The municipal police closed the surrounding area within 100 meters of the footbridge on the Troja side for safety reasons during the extraction of the debris, as the towing cable could break and injure someone.

According to site manager Karel Frankota from the Strabag company, representatives of the company will meet with investigators on Friday morning to examine the remaining part of the footbridge. According to him, there should be no piece of the footbridge left in the water.

City officials previously stated that they plan to introduce a ferry service and subsequently build a temporary footbridge after the debris has been removed. The Institute for Planning and Development (IPR) has also developed a proposal to change the zoning plan for the construction of two new footbridges. One will be at the location of the original, and the other will be further downstream. The police are expected to complete the investigation of the incident at the scene this week, with further investigations taking place at the parking lot near the Troja concrete plant, where the debris will be transported.