Vehicle strikes spectators and monument just yards from royal family
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | APELDOORN, Netherlands - Four people were killed and 13 injured when a car slammed into a crowd watching Queen Beatrix and her family at a holiday parade, Dutch authorities said Thursday.
Officials said the incident appeared to be deliberate, but not an act of terrorism.
A prosecutor identified only as L. Goossens told reporters the driver of the car was injured and was in police custody in the hospital. Eight of the injured were in serious condition.
The small black car plowed through a line of spectators then slammed into a stone monument just a few yards from the open bus where the queen and the royal family were being greeted by the crowd.
People were seen flying through the air after the car swerved across police railings, where the crowd was lined up five or six deep to see the immensely popular royal family pass on its way to the Het Loo palace on the Queen's Day national holiday.
It was not clear how the car managed enter the parade area, which police had sealed off hours before.
Shortly after the incident, investigators and a sniffer dog examined the car for explosives, then sawed off the roof of the car for a closer inspection.
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 with surprise. Maxima held her hand over her mouth in apparent horror.
The bus was not hit and no one in the queen's entourage was injured.
Festivities axed
A policeman narrowly escaped injury when he jumped off his bicycle to avoid being hit.
Apeldoorn Mayor Fred de Graaf said all festivities were being canceled. "The scare and the images that the family has seen are reason to break off the official program," he said.
Holiday programs also were called off in the port city of Rotterdam, and more were likely to be canceled around the country.
Journalist Peter von de Vorst told RTL television that the bizarre incident was like watching a 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.
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