A FIVE-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO DROWNED IN A SEWER WEDNESDAY BECAME THE FIRST VICTIM OF SPRING FLOODS SWEEPING THE CZECH REPUBLIC, REPORTED DPA. BY AFTERNOON, SECTIONS OF MORE THAN 20 RIVERS HAD REACHED DANGEROUS FLOOD LEVELS AND EVACUATIONS WERE EITHER UNDER WAY OR COMPLETED IN SEVERAL COMMUNITIES. PRAGUE OFFICIALS BEGAN EVACUATING LOW-LYING PARTS OF SIX NEIGHBOURHOODS THREATENED BY THE RISING VLTAVA RIVER. THE CITY'S ZOO BRACED FOR A POSSIBLE ANIMAL EVACUATION, AND SPECIAL BARRIERS WERE ERECTED TO PROTECT THE HISTORIC DISTRICT.
