Court: Town wrong to issue monster truck permit; Victims set to sue

By Janene Pieters on October 28, 2015 - 15:40
monster truck crash
A monster truck crashes into a crowd injuring many in Haaksbergen, Sept. 28, 2014 (@Meissie78/Twitter). (A monster truck crashes into a crowd injuring many in Haaksbergen, Sept. 28, 2014 (@Meissie78/Twitter))

The municipality of Haaksbergen was wrong to issue a permit for the event in which a monster truck crashed into the audience, killed three people and wounded 28 others in September last year, the court in Overijssel ruled on Wednesday. The victims are holding the municipality liable.

The court found that the municipality did not do a risk assessment for the monster truck stunt in advance, according to AD. They had no concrete information on how the stunt would happen and what the risks were. This information was not in the permit application and no inquiries were made to rectify this.

The municipality saw no reason to take extra security measures for the show on September 28th. The permit was granted based on a previous edition of the annual car and motorcycle event - one that did not include a monster truck stunt.

After the court's ruling, injury expert Yme Drost told AD that the 25 victims he is representing will be holding the municipality liable for the damages they suffered.

Acting Haaksbergen mayor Gerrit Jan Kok has not yet responded to the court's ruling.

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