British man whose backpack caught fire at Prague airport deported from Czechia

Prague, April 14 (ČTK) - A Prague district court today found the British man whose backpack caught fire at Prague airport on Tuesday, guilty of illegal arms possession and banned him from entering the Czech Republic for three years, a court spokeswoman told ČTK.

Prague Municipal Prosecutor's Office spokesman Aleš Cimbala said the man had part of a military hand grenade in his luggage.

Czech TV and CNN Prima News first reported the development in the case which temporarily halted arrivals at Prague's Václav Havel International Airport in Prague on Tuesday morning.

The man suffered light burns as a result of the explosion which took place at Terminal 2 of the airport. He was treated on the spot by the Czech Samaritan Association which provides medical care at the airport.

The corridor linking Terminals 1 and 2 was evacuated for security reasons and all airport access roads for individual transport were closed for about an hour and a half. Security measures were lifted around 10:30 a.m. and access to the airport fully resumed.

The court verdict has taken effect and the British national has been released from detention.

The court ruled Tuesday's incident a "criminal offense of illegal armament." It also confiscated the partial military grenade.

Police had originally thought that the backpack had caught fire due to the mishandling of fireworks.

A CNN report said that if the grenade had exploded, it could have injured dozens of people. Investigators have not yet released further details, but according to Cimbala, the man did not deliberately set off the grenade.

Prague airport's press department said in a statement: "In principle, situations like these are difficult to prevent due to the fact that it took place in a publicly accessible area prior to check-in and security checks."