The Hungarian Government dismisses the head of the meteorological agency after an erroneous prediction

BUDAPEST, Aug. 22 (DPA/EP) –

The Hungarian Government has dismissed the main officials of the national meteorology agency (OMSZ) and, although it has not given the reasons, opposition leaders attribute it to an erroneous prediction that led to modifying the acts for the national day.

The Minister of Technology and Industry, Laszlo Palkovics, has limited himself to announcing the dismissal of Kornelia Radics as head of the agency and of his ‘number two’, Gyula Horvath, without revealing the exact reasons for the change.

However, it comes just a few days after the agency forecast severe storms in Budapest on Saturday night — with a 75 to 80 percent chance. Based on these forecasts, the authorities decided to cancel the fireworks.

The storm finally did not arrive and the media related to the Government began to spread the theory that the authorities had received “false” information.

In 2006, five people were killed and more than 300 injured by a storm during the August 20 celebrations. Since then, the Government sticks to the forecasts to decide the scope of the festivities.