Van hits Dutch newspaper building, no casualties reported

THE HAGUE - A van hit the building of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf in Amsterdam at 4 am local time (0200 GMT) on Tuesday, causing no casualties.

The police suspected a deliberate act, but were unclear about the motive. According to the police, a white Volkswagen Caddy caught fire and the perpetrator or perpetrators left the scene in a dark-colored Audi car and was still at large.

There were no De Telegraaf employees but only security staff present at the time, the police said.

According to a report by De Telegraaf, the driver maneuvered the car between two planters and hit the glass front of the building. The van did not break through the wall because of the extra security glass.

"We are of course shocked," Paul Jansen, editor-in-chief of De Telegraaf, said. "This is a terrible event, but we will not let ourselves be intimidated."

The editors and the head office of De Telegraaf Media Group are located in the building in Amsterdam West.

De Telegraaf is the largest Dutch-language daily newspaper in the Netherlands, with a daily circulation of around 400,000 paper copies. The newspaper is especially known for its crime reporting.

Close to the De Telegraaf building is the building of the Panorama weekly, which was shot last Thursday with an anti-tank weapon. A 41-year-old man from Woerden in the central Netherlands has been arrested.

According to the police, the suspect is a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang about which Panorama had published some articles.