MPs question ‘rain of bullets’ on Moluccan train in 1977

Socialist and Labour MPs have questioned a ‘rain of bullets’ on a train hijacked by South Moluccan activists in 1977. Bullets Through Glass / Wikipedia They want Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten to clarify about the violent end of the Moluccan train hijacking, the Volkskrant reports. Documents published by the Volkskrant at the weekend disclose that the hijackers were killed by a hail of bullets, and their bodies were riddled with 144 bullets. The official hijacking case file was sealed for the past 35 years. The Volkskrant was given an access to classified documents. "This case stinks. For the sake of all stakeholders - politicians, former hostages, relatives of the hijackers - it is important that we get to the bottom of what happened” Socialist MP Harry van Bommel said. The train was hijacked by Moluccans close to De Punt in Drenthe in an effort to press the Dutch government to recognize an independent South Molucca. Nine armed Moluccans hijacked the train carrying 50 people on May 23, 1977, according to Wikipedia. The hijacking lasted for 20 days and two hostages and six hijackers were killed.