Pinoys alerted each other of Prague shooting; day of mourning declared

PRAGUE - Filipinos alerted each other of a mass shooting at a Prague university on Thursday, two Pinoys revealed, as a day of mourning was announced by the government.

On the day of the shooting, a Filipino working at a hotel near the Faculty of Arts alerted other Filipinos through chat that an active shooter was in the area, and that their hotel was on lockdown.

Meanwhile, Filipino student at Charles University Aieshah Balmori was in class six kilometers away at the time of the shooting.

“Initially, we thought it might have been a riot, but then we started seeing words like shooting, killer, dead one by one in our messages,” Balmori said.

“Prague police contacts have stated that they will inform the embassy should any relevant developments involving Filipinos occur,” said the Philippine Embassy.

Fourteen people died and 25 were injured after a gunman opened fire at Charles University's Faculty of Arts on Thursday. The area is near Jan Palach Square in Prague, a mere 500 meters away from the historic Old Town and Charles Bridge

There were no Filipinos among the killed and injured in the shooting incident, the Philippine Embassy in Czech Republic said Friday.

In a statement, the Embassy said there are six known Filipino students at Charles University.

"The Philippine Embassy in Prague wishes to inform the Filipino community in the Czech Republic and that it has contacted a representative of the six known Filipino students at the Charles University, and ascertained that all of them are safe and everyone is monitoring the situation closely," the Embassy said.

Czech President Petr Pavel has declared December 23 as the national day of mourning.

Flags will fly at half mast and a minute of silence will be observed at noon.

Czech police partly identified the gunman as David K who turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. He shot his father earlier the same day and may be linked to the deaths of two other people on December 15, police said.

Among those injured are two UAE citizens and one Dutch citizen.

People came together in front of the Rectorate of Charles University a day after the tragedy to light candles and offer flowers for the victims.

Charles University has launched a fundraiser to support the families of the victims, teachers, and students affected by the shooting. —KG, GMA Integrated News