Police evacuate Prague hotel after suspicious wire found on door handle

Police evacuated a hotel in Prague’s Smíchov district on Sunday afternoon after discovering a suspicious wire on the door handle of one of the rooms. The man inside refused to communicate, and officers later found that he had cut his neck, but no explosive device was discovered, Prague police spokesman Jan Daněk told ČTK.

Paramedics treated the man for self-inflicted wounds, Daněk said.

As a result of the police operation, traffic in the area was restricted. Officers began removing police tape around 4:45 p.m., and traffic returned to normal shortly after, according to a ČTK reporter at the scene.

Police were called to the Akcent Hotel on Stroupežnického Street around 3:30 p.m. after hotel staff reported that a guest had not left his room. When they checked, they found a wire wrapped around the room’s door handle and called police, Daněk said.

As a precaution, authorities evacuated the hotel.

A bomb disposal expert was brought in to determine whether the wire was part of an explosive device, and a police negotiator attempted to communicate with the man inside.

Shortly after 4 p.m., police reported that the man had cut his own neck inside the hotel room.

“He is now in an ambulance receiving medical care,” they wrote in an update.

The police operation ended before 5 p.m. after the bomb disposal expert confirmed that no explosive device was present, Daněk said.