Around Slovakia

One dead, 18 injured in bus crash
Twenty foot python stolen
Annual rail pentathlon in central Slovakia

Nové Mesto nad Váhom
One dead, 18 injured in bus crash

One man was killed and 18 were injured when a bus overturned near western Slovakia's Nové Mesto nad Váhom August 26. The bus, which was travelling from Poland to Italy via Slovakia, was carrying 42 passengers from Italy, Poland, and Ukraine plus a staff of four. It was travelling at 100 kilometres per hour when it came off the road and ran into a ditch by a highway.
The body of a 62 year-old Italian man was trapped inside the overturned vehicle for three hours. Of the injured passengers, two are in serious condition.
The driver at the time of the accident denied allegations that he fell asleep at the wheel, and claimed he was forced off the road by another car. The cause of the accident is still being investigated.


Nitra
Twenty foot python stolen

Július Karabinoš, a pet lover from Nitra, reported to local police August 24 that a five metre (appx. 20 feet), 50 kilo python had been stolen from his vivarium the night before. The owner claimed that the python was the biggest snake of its kind in Slovakia, and is believed to be valued at 50,000 Slovak crowns ($1,000).
Police, who sent 12 men out to try and track down the reptile, did not exclude the possibility of theft, but said that the snake may have crawled out of the vivarium itself.
"In the past it [the python] has managed to creep out of its terrarium, but it has never got out of the building," the owner said.


Čierny Balog
Annual rail pentathlon in central Slovakia

Fans of a local folk sports competition joined together in central Slovakia's Čierny Balog, which boasts the historical rail line Čiernohorská železnička, August 25 for the annual 'rail pentathlon'.
The unusual discipline, which involves pulling, pushing, and bouncing train wagons, and carrying weights and hitting special rail nails into the ground, is dedicated to Julko Kovalčík-Krásnik, former railmaster of the line.
The sixth annual competition drew about 30 male contestants and three women.


Compiled by Martina Pisárová from press reports

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