Firefighters Free Truck Stuck Under Prague Bridge Using Two Tanks
Prague firefighters freed a heavy truck carrying a drilling rig that had been wedged beneath a railway bridge on Vídeňská Street in the Krč district. The rescue operation required two heavy recovery tanks and a crane operating late into the night.
Two Recovery Tanks and a Crane Mobilized in Krč
The incident began when the truck, traveling away from the city center on Vídeňská Street, failed to clear the railway bridge belonging to the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP). The impact wedged the vehicle and its trailing drilling rig firmly beneath the bridge structure, blocking traffic and several municipal bus lines since Wednesday evening. Novinky reported that the truck’s driver misjudged the height of the load. Firefighters were informed of the accident on Wednesday evening before 10:00 PM, after which they secured leaked operating fluids and planned the recovery operation.
By Thursday, emergency crews faced mounting complications. According to the sources, the first specialized recovery tank dispatched by the Railway Administration (Správa železnic) broke down during the initial attempt after damaging the asphalt roadway. A recovery vehicle from Holešovice also arrived in the morning to assist. Rescuers then called in a backup tank from Zbiroh, but that effort also failed, including a subsequent attempt using tear chains. A third railway fire department tank from Přerov was subsequently brought to the scene, arriving around 8:30 PM.
Firefighters also deployed an 84-ton crane from the firm Švestka to serve as an anchor point for the recovery tanks, as detailed in the sources. Before the final breakthrough, workers attempted to free the drilling head stuck behind the bridge edge, which involved breaking away a small portion of the bridge structure to clear the jammed space. Despite these measures, an evening attempt around 9:00 PM involving a tank, two recovery vehicles, and a temporarily operational drilling rig failed to budge the stuck vehicle by even a centimeter, according to Novinky’s on-site reporting. Around 8:15 PM, spokesperson Miroslav Řezáč stated that additional specialized equipment was en route, and around 8:45 PM noted that crews prepared a single-tank attempt before connecting the second tank.
Recovery Tanks Free Vehicle from Bridge Structure
The breakthrough came shortly before midnight on Thursday, around 11:00 PM. Prague fire department spokesperson Miroslav Řezáč confirmed to ČT24 that the combination of two recovery tanks and an external hydraulic drive successfully freed the vehicle from the bridge structure.
Writing on the social media platform X around 11:00 PM, firefighters stated that the assembly was no longer blocked by the bridge construction. Throughout the operation, emergency personnel urged citizens not to flood emergency dispatch lines with well-intentioned advice, noting that trained specialists were managing the complex recovery. South Moravian firefighter explosives experts also arrived at the scene, though their deployment was intended as a last resort.
The bridge itself serves primarily as a service siding and occasional heritage tourist railway connecting Kačerov and Nádraží Krč, or Vršovice and Braník, according to DPP spokesperson Aneta Řehková cited by ČT24.
