Netherlands
Truck crashes into barbecue: number of victims still unclear
Rescue workers at the scene of the accident: ten ambulances and a helicopter are in action. photo
© ANP/dpa
The barbecue in a small town in Holland is in full swing. Then the catastrophe: a truck crashes into the middle of the celebrating people. There are dead and injured.
After a truck drove into the middle of a neighborhood festival near Rotterdam, the number of victims is still unclear. The Dutch police spoke of at least two deaths on Sunday night. However, in order to rescue the dead, the truck that had fallen off a dyke still had to be completely recovered. The dead were still under the vehicle, it said. First, shortly before midnight, the trailer of the articulated lorry was hoisted back onto the road with a crane. The police have not yet released any final information on the number of people injured.
Investigations into the cause of the accident were still ongoing. At the intersection of two narrow streets in the village of Nieuw-Beijerland, the heavy truck drove down the dyke right into the middle of the barbecue, where there were a lot of people at the time. The 46-year-old Spanish driver of the truck from Spain was unharmed and was arrested, police said. He was interrogated at the station. In the meantime, the driver of a white van, who was at the intersection shortly before the accident, also reported. The police are hoping for information about the course of the accident from the possible witnesses.
situation is still unclear
“You can imagine what a blow it is: during a neighborhood festival, a truck drives into this group of people, the shock is enormous,” said a police spokeswoman for the Omroep Rijnmond broadcaster. The community is taking care of the numerous witnesses to the terrible events. A special company was commissioned to salvage the truck. Only then could experts recover the dead underneath.
The accident happened near an intersection. The rather narrow streets run along a dyke, at the foot of which the festival was in progress. “It’s a very close-knit village community here in Nieuw-Bejerland,” Mayor Charlie Aptroot told NOS. The accident was a terrible blow for the residents. “People want to know how their relatives or close friends are doing. But there is still no complete overview.”
Around 100 people had registered for the festival organized by an association, a local resident told Omroep Rijnmond. Another neighbor spoke of “complete chaos”. Everyone was in a panic. Everyone wanted to help. “But there were an awful lot of injuries.”