Two lifeless and church gutted by hearth in ‘unprecedented’ New Yr’s violence within the Netherlands

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Revealed on 01/01/2026 - 16:44 GMT+1

At the least two folks have been killed within the Netherlands in a string of violent incidents on New Yr’s Eve that Dutch police are calling "unprecedented".

Within the southeastern metropolis of Nijmegen, a 17-year-old was killed in an incident involving fireworks shortly after midnight however police have given no additional particulars.

And within the city of Aalsmeer south of the capital Amsterdam, a 38-year-old was killed in one other incident involving fireworks which continues to be being investigated.

9 Kooiman, the top of the Dutch Police Union, reported an "unprecedented quantity of violence in opposition to police and emergency providers" throughout the nation on New Yr's Eve.

She mentioned she herself had been pelted 3 times by fireworks and different explosives as she labored a shift in Amsterdam.

Shortly after midnight, authorities issued a uncommon nationwide alert by way of cellphones, warning folks to not name overwhelmed emergency providers except their lives have been in danger.

Experiences of assaults in opposition to police and firefighters have been widespread throughout the nation. Within the southern metropolis of Breda, folks threw petrol bombs at police.

The attention hospital in Rotterdam mentioned it had handled 14 sufferers, together with 10 minors, for eye accidents. Two acquired surgical procedure.

It was the final 12 months earlier than an anticipated ban on unofficial fireworks, so the Dutch purchased them in huge portions.

Based on the Dutch Pyrotechnics Affiliation, revellers splashed out a report €129 million on fireworks.

Some areas had been designated firework-free zones, however this appeared to have little impact.

In the meantime, a large inferno gutted a Nineteenth-century church in Amsterdam. The blaze broke out within the early hours of Thursday on the Vondelkerk, a vacationer attraction overlooking one of many metropolis's prime parks since 1872.

The 50-metre-high tower collapsed,and the roof was severely broken, however the construction was anticipated to stay intact, Amsterdam authorities mentioned.

The reason for the blaze was not instantly obvious.

Brussels' fireworks chaos In Belgium, police made a number of arrests as officers in each Brussels and Antwerp have been focused with fireworks, with a New Yr's ban on their use failing to stop chaotic scenes in each main cities.

Police used tear gasoline and arrested greater than 100 folks within the port metropolis of Antwerp, the place minors as younger as 10 or 11 focused officers and emergency providers with fireworks and stones, setting hearth to bikes, vehicles and trash cans, a spokesperson informed the AFP information company.

Authorities confiscated various "very harmful" professional-grade fireworks, the spokesperson mentioned. A 12-year-old little one was significantly injured in a fireworks incident within the northern metropolis.

Likewise within the capital Brussels, police mentioned they have been "repeatedly" focused with fireworks, making some 70 arrests in a single day.

And in Germany, two 18-year-olds died within the western metropolis of Bielefeld after they set off home-made fireworks that produced "lethal facial accidents," native police mentioned in a press release.