200 attend memorial for Ostrava hospital shooting victims

Some 200 people gathered outside the University Hospital in Ostrava on Wednesday evening for a memorial service for six people killed there the previous morning by a gunman.

Originally, the service was to be in the hospital chapel, but it could not accommodate those wishing to pay their respects to the victims. One woman remains in critical condition.

Sirens across the Czech Republic will sound at noon on December 17 to commemorate the victims.

The gunman, a 42-year-old construction technician with a history of mental illness and minor scrapes with the law, later committed suicide in his car as police closed in on him.

Author: Brian Kenety