My Neck of the Woods – Attack on Queen Beatrix

Deadly attack on Queen’s Day

(RNW) – A car that drove straight through a crowd of people in Apeldoorn at the moment the royal family was passing by, did so deliberately. That was confirmed by the authorities at a press conference. The drama cost the lives of four members of the public, and a further 13 were injured, five of them severely.

The town of Apeldoorn was this year’s setting for the traditional Queen’s Day festivities. An open-top bus with the royal family on board was close to the monument `The Needle’, when a black Suzuki appeared at high speed out of nowhere.

[The car crashed from behind through rows of spectators. Some 24 people were injured and had to be treated by doctors at the intersection. At the present FIVE persons have died. The car was severely damaged as it moved in the direction of the royal family. – Oui]

Members of the royal family express shock as they witness the incident.

The car hit the monument with a bang and came to a stop. The royal bus continued to drive on. Live TV pictures being broadcast to millions of homes showed a shocked Princess Máxima put her hand to her mouth. By then, 17 people who had been in the car’s path lay wounded and, as it turned out, four of them were dead.

Driver arrested

A planned action, said the Public Prosecutor at a press conference following several hours of chaos. In order to arrive at the monument, the car must have gone through a roadblock. Furthemore, the car was driving into the crowd at high speed.

The driver survived the impact. He was arrested, but due to the seriousness of his injuries he had to be taken straight to hospital for an operation. Nevertheless, Chief Public Prosecutor Ludo Goossens could confirm that it was indeed not an accident:

“At the moment, I can tell you that from our first contact with the accused, there are indications that this was a deliberately planned action. As a prelude to this action, there are indications that there was earlier contact with officers from the military police, after which the incident we all witnessed took place.”

According to Mr Goosens, the contact with the accused took place before he was cut free from the seriously damaged vehicle. He’s a 38-year-old native Dutchman who wasn’t known to the police, and it also isn’t known whether he has mental problems.

[The suspect had recently lost his job as security worker. He was a quiet persons who didn’t chat much with his neighbors. He is one of the severely injured and according to the latest news suffered brain trauma with no chance of survival. – Oui]

SHOCKING NEWS VIDEO OF INCIDENT