The police will lift the collapsed roof in Česká Třebová for inspection

Česká Třebová - The police today began preparatory work preceding the lifting of the collapsed roof structure of the sports hall in Česká Třebová. The roof collapsed on Saturday, January 14, during a floorball tournament. All eighty people managed to escape in time, but two of them were slightly injured during the escape. A crane is set to lift the wooden roof trusses on Wednesday so that a forensic expert can examine them, said Lenka Vilímková, spokesperson for the Orlickoústecko police, to ČTK.

The construction company is currently clearing away bricks, rubble, and parts of the tarpaulin near the perimeter walls. "As for the continuation of the examination at the site by the forensic expert and us, and the retrieval of specific trusses and other items that need to be examined and photographed, that will likely begin on Wednesday," Vilímková stated.

The police are investigating the incident as a general endangerment due to negligence. Police officers are guarding the site, and after the inspection is completed, the region will secure the protection of the property as its owner.

The Pardubice region built the new hall at a cost of 58 million crowns. It was to be used by the local Higher Vocational School and Technical Secondary School, which is located on its premises. The original gymnasium was already outdated.

The Pardubice region is to have an independent assessment of the entire construction carried out, from the project documentation to the commissioning of the building. The general contractor of the construction, Profistav Litomyšl, has also assembled its own expert team. The roof of the hall, with a structure of wooden trusses, was built for them by Cecolegno, a company specializing in wooden constructions, as a subcontractor. "We selected Cecolegno based on a tender from a total of ten companies. However, their offer was definitely not the cheapest," stated Tomáš Zavřel, general director of Profistav Litomyšl, in a press release. According to him, the choice of subcontractor was determined by references and the fact that it is a company specializing in wooden structures. It declared that it is the only one in the Czech Republic that does everything itself, from raw material selection through gluing, its own design, to assembly, maintenance, and protection.

Initially, the region did not rule out that it would be necessary to demolish the hall and rebuild it entirely. It now seems that the hall can be repaired. According to Governor Martin Netolický (ČSSD), the new roof should have a different structure.