Inauguration Eve Calm

Despite large numbers of people who attended the festivities in the four big cities on Monday night, no serious incident was reported. The Queen's Day eve, which was held this year for the very last time, is traditionally a night full of festivities but, unfortunately, sometimes also of much aggression and vandalism. Not this year. In Utrecht a gas cylinder exploded in a market stall, seriously injuring one person, who had to be taken to a hospital. The reason for the explosion is not yet clear, but no other person was injured and the party in Utrecht went on without disruption. In Amsterdam 70 people were arrested by midnight. According to a spokesperson of the Dutch capital, this figure was almost the same as last year's and the arrests in Amsterdam concerned only minor offenses, such as drunkenness, nuisance and vandalism. The city center of The Hague was very busy and the organizers of the festivities recorded more than 200,000 visitors. There were several small festivals in The Hague; one was a jazz and blues show held in front of the palace of the Queen. At the time, the Queen was sleeping in the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam. Because of the many visitors from Rotterdam in The Hague, the NS used extra trains to transport people back. A spokesperson of the NS said that everything ran smoothly and there were no untoward incidents reported.