KOŠICE
13 injured during soccer celebration
Thirteen people were injured in the eastern Slovak city of Košice during celebrations of the first soccer championship in Slovakia's short history brought to Košice by 1. FC, the bigger of the two clubs in the town.
VSŽ Košice, the owner of the team, engineered a big celebration at the old soccer stadium on June 14, with various singers, pop stars and other celebrities to perform for the 1. FC's fans. When Paľo Habera, a Slovak singer, got on the stage and started singing the team's hymn, a large number of fans tried to get on stage with him.
The 2.6 meter tall stage wasn't sturdy enough to hold a cluster of 40 jumping fans and collapsed. In a split second, the celebraters were covered with wood, technical equipment, wires and dust.
A 16-year old girl is still in the hospital with a broken lumbar bone and is expected to stay for two months. Another two fans went to the hospital with concussions. Other fans suffered minor cuts that needed stitching. Three players from the team were also taken in with small cuts. After the incident many people left the stadium, although the night was supposed to finish with a huge disco party.
IVANKA
Air accident had a happy ending
A revving SU-27, Harrier, Mirage 2000, Mig-27 and other jets were a loud enough sign that this village of 5,000 in western Slovakia, home to the Bratislava airport, was host to the fifth annual Slovak International Air Show.
Over the June 21-22 weekend, more than 130,000 people enjoyed beautiful flying formations, as airplanes from 14 European countries and the US performed amazing flying tricks.
An unfortunate accident occurred in which one of four Russian aviators piloting a SU-27 forgot to push the button to activate the landing gear, causing the plane to jump and skid across the runway. He survived thanks to a parachute attached to the plane. The fire department was on the field immediately, and removed the plane from the field.
LADOMÍROVÁ
Last to practice dinosaur medicine
An 83-year old woman living in the tiny northeastern Slovak village of Ladomirova is reportedly the only medic in Slovakia that still bleeds people. She took over this profession in 1953 from her husband, and since then she is trying to cure people by cutting their veins, letting out "sick blood". She said that because of her profession she has received many nicknames, such as "red woman", or "woman of blood".
During communism, she and her husband were persecuted, because the government did not approve of their healing methods. Today, people come to her from all over the country even as far as Poland, treating about one person a week. She is open to help anyone Since she is the last one in business, it is unlikely that anyone will follow in her footsteps.
Compiled by Andrea Lörinczová from press reports.
