The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot during a public meeting in a mountainous central district of the country, a witness speaks of his head and chest having “bloody injuries”.
A gunman shot recently re-elected Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday afternoon in the central town of Handlova, in the mountainous Trenčín Region. Slovakian publication Denník N reports Fico was meeting members of the public at a local cultural centre when shots rang out. A witness is reported to have said: “When the shots rang out, they were deafening” and that she had seen Fico fall to the ground with “bloody injuries on his chest and head”.
An alleged gunman has been arrested.
The Slovakian government has given no update on Fico’s condition. He was rushed to hospital, but it is reported he was not taken to the closest hospital in Bojnice, 12 miles away.
Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová called the apparent attempted assassination as brutal, and said: “I am shocked. I wish Roberto Fico a lot of strength at this critical moment to recover from the attack”, reports national broadsheet newspaper SME. The Slovakian parliament and a meeting of the government has been suspended.
This story is developing, more follows.
