WORLD> Europe
|
WORLD> Europe
|
|
Car hits crowd watching Dutch queen, kills 5
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-01 10:38 Reporters saw people thrown high in the air from the impact or tumbling down the street, their broken limbs askew. First aid crews and police officers ran to the victims and applied revival techniques. The driver, bleeding from the head and nose, was slumped against the seat when police lifted him out and put him into an ambulance. Earlier, Apeldoorn Mayor Fred de Graaf said eight of the 13 injured were in serious condition, with two men and two women killed. Later, a third man died of his injuries, said Apeldoorn municipality spokesman Toon Schuiling. Two teenagers and a 9-year-old girl were among the severely injured.
"We are speechless that something so terrible could have happened," the queen said in a rare televised appearance. "My family, and I think everybody in the country, sympathize with the victims, their families and friends and all who have been hit so hard by this accident." Dutch television footage showed Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, standing at their seats in the bus's high open platform and watching in astonishment. Maxima held her hand over her mouth in apparent horror.
A policeman narrowly escaped injury when he jumped off his bicycle to avoid being hit. Shortly after the crash, investigators and a sniffer dog examined the car for explosives, then sliced off the roof of the car for a closer inspection. Journalist Peter von de Vorst told RTL television that the incident was like watching a horrible movie. "It was a really nice day. Then you hear a bang. Everyone looks up and you see people indeed flying through the air. This must be a joke or a strange prank. Then suddenly panic, and you realize that something really terrible has happened," he said. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the main Dutch cities on Wednesday night and Thursday to celebrate the national holiday, originally intended to celebrate the birthday of Beatrix's mother, Queen Juliana. The royal family normally spends the day in a small Dutch community.
|
||||||
