Czech Republic: 2 stabbed to death in knife attack at shopping centre

Two women died in a knife attack at a shopping centre in the Czech Republic, officials said on Thursday.

Police said they detained a suspect who stabbed the two victims in a store in the city of Hradec Kralove, some 100 kilometers east of Prague on Thursday morning.

They initially said the two were injured, one of them seriously, but later said the two female victims have died. The victims were employees at the shop.

"Although we were on the scene within a few minutes of the report, both victims suffered injuries so serious that they could not be saved despite all efforts of responders," the police said in a post on X.

A paramedic responding to the scene told Novinky.cz that resuscitation efforts lasted around 40 minutes.

Police said the suspect, a 16-year-old Czech national, was detained by police about 10 minutes after the attack about one 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the site. Police said they found a knife nearby.

Police say the situation was under control and there was no danger to the public. The motive for the attack was not immediately known.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala offered his condolences to the relatives of the dead.

“What has happened in Hradec Kralove today is an absolutely incomprehensible and horrible act,” he posted on X.