Car Plows Into Crowd Celebrating Dutch Queen

May 1, 2009

Car Plows Into Crowd Celebrating Dutch Queen
By MARLISE SIMONS

PARIS — Five people were killed and a dozen wounded Thursday when a car sped into a crowd at a festival in the town of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, narrowly missing an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and members of her family.

Dutch officials said that minutes later, the driver admitted that he had aimed his car at the royal family, but they gave no details as to a possible motive.

The authorities declined to provide the driver’s name, but said he was a 38-year-old Dutchman who appeared to have acted alone and carried no weapons or explosives.

The man was severely injured, probably as his car crashed into a stone monument, but police officers spoke with him as they tried to free him from the wreck. They said he was hospitalized in critical condition and could not be questioned further.

Television images of the festivities, traditionally held to celebrate Queen’s Day, showed police officers rushing toward injured spectators lying on the ground. Members of the royal household atop the open bus watched the scene, some clasping their faces in horror. The police said that 4 of the 12 wounded people had serious injuries.

Queen Beatrix, looking tense and shaken, later appeared on national television to offer her condolences to the families of the victims. “What began as a beautiful day has ended in a terrible drama which has shocked all of us,” she said. “We are speechless that such a terrible event could have happened.”

The attack raised a host of questions about how the driver could have broken through several police barricades, coming within about 15 yards of the bus carrying the royal family.
Security, which used to be lax in the Netherlands, has become stricter in recent years since several public figures, including the filmmaker Theo van Gogh, were killed on the streets. Numerous roads were blocked off before the parade, and about 700 police officers, many in plainclothes, were in the area, Dutch officials said.

Queen’s Day, held on the birth date of the queen’s late mother, Queen Juliana, is a national holiday in the Netherlands and is widely celebrated with street markets, concerts and parades.
After the deadly episode, some cities canceled events, but in Amsterdam, the capital, squares and canals were still filled with thousands of revelers.

Police officers spent hours combing through the home of the driver, who lived in a small town not far from Apeldoorn. They said the man had no police record. Neighbors said he lived alone and had recently lost his job.

Personal Comment:

My article for Current World Affairs this week is about the most important/impressive news story of this week.

On the 30th of April Dutch people all over the world celebrate Queensday. This is the main event of the year for the Dutch.

The Dutch Queen and her family visits a city on this day. This year Apeldoorn was the desitination for the Queen. During her tour through the city in a open bus suddenly a car came driving through the public in an attempt to hit the bus.

At the moment 7 people died and one is still in a critical condition in the hospital. Among the dead is the driver of the car.

This week I do not have a news story able to give a personal opinion. However I feel that for me as a Dutch the disturbance of the Queensday celebration is a big issue. This is the reason for me to share it with my fellow students.

Here is a link to a youtube video of the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw1JbgrLYH8&feature=related