Slovakia Prime Minister, Robert Fico, has been shot and taken to hospital following a cabinet meeting outside the capital Bratislava.
Local reports say he was hit in the abdomen, arm, and leg.
Fico was shot in front of a cultural community centre in the town of Handlova, where a government meeting had been held, reports say.
A Slovak interior ministry spokesman confirms that an assassination attempt was carried out on the PM
Fico was greeting people in front of a cultural community centre in the central town of Handlova in Slovakia when several shots were fired from a crowd, reports say.
Handlova is around 180km (112 miles) north-east of the capital Bratislava.
Unconfirmed reports by eyewitnesses say Fico was shot in the arms, legs and stomach – but we have not been able to verify this.
His bodyguards were seen helping him to a car soon after the shooting.
Fico’s staff have since said he was airlifted to a nearby hospital as the transfer to the capital Bratislava would take too long and his condition is understood to be critical.
Local reports say he was airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital before he was later flown to another hospital in Banska Bystrica, east of Handlova.
A video showed several men rushing to detain the suspect just outside the cultural centre in Handlova. The BBC has not yet verified the footage.
Fico is in hospital after being shot multiple times in an assassination attempt
He is now in a life-threatening condition, according to an update on his official social media account
Slovakia’s President-elect Peter Pellegrini has said he is horrified by the attack, echoing many other European leaders
His alleged assailant has been detained by the police
Fico was wounded as he was leaving a government meeting in the central town of Handlova
Slovakia’s outgoing president Zuzana Caputova says she is shocked by the “brutal and ruthless” attack on the prime minister.
“I am shocked. I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment to recover from the attack,” she says in a statement.
BBC
