Dubnica nad Váhom
Undisciplined hens cause four cars to crash
Hens were the cause of a serious accident near Dubnica nad Váhom Tuesday May 22 in which four cars crashed, one person suffered serious injuries, and another six people suffered light injuries which did not require hospitalisation. Two hens died in the accident.
According to local police a 31 year-old driver was transporting nine hens in the back of her car when one of the fowl suddenly jumped into the passenger seat. The crash occurred as the driver struggled to push the hen to the back of the car.
Nitra
Rare poisonous snakes found in mail parcel
Five venomous snakes were found May 18 by customs officers in an air mail parcel sent from the Netherlands to a private address in Nitra.
According to Slovak press agency TASR, sources within the Slovak Customs Directorate said that suspicious sounds were heard coming from a paper box, which according to a mail description should have contained toy figures made of snake leather.
Customs officers opened the package to find a message warning that the dispatch contained five lethally poisonous snakes.
Experts said the reptiles were among the most poisonous and aggressive of snakes - 'bushmasters'. The nearest laboratory with an anti-toxin against their poison is in Berlin. However, an adult would die within 30 minutes of being bitten by the snake.
It is believed that the snakes, internationally-protected as an endangered species, were meant for later sale. The addressee of the package said he had not been expecting a delivery, despite the fact that his telephone number and instructions were pinned to
the parcel. The snakes were placed in nearby Bojnice Zoo.
Košice
Police swoop on women-trafficking gang
Košice and Prešov police departments May 17 arrested eight members of an organised gang selling Slovak women into prostitution abroad.
The police operation, carried out by 93 officers, searched five flats, taking 22 suspects in for questioning. Of those taken into custody, 14 have been released.
According to Jaroslav Sahul, spokesman for the [senior police body] Police Corps, the eight arrested men are suspected of having lured two underage girls into prostitution and then selling them in the Czech town of Teplice for 28,000 Slovak crowns ($570) in November last year.
Compiled by Martina Pisárová from press reports
