Hostage situation at Den Helder ferry
Update 11:20 a.m. - The hostage situation ended with police overpowering the suspect, officials said just before 11 a.m. A new news story about the turbulent event was published on NL Times soon after.
A hostage situation is currently happening on Havenplein, the departure point for the ferry from Den Helder to Texel. A Portuguese speaking woman took another woman hostage. The police are at the scene and other emergency services are on the way, AD reports.
The hostage situation is going down at the office of the TESO ferry, according to the newspaper. The woman has a knife with her, the police said. It's not clear what the woman wants. "That also makes it hard for us to calm her down", a spokesperson for the police said to AD. "She is very emotional and is holding another woman, someone she doesn't know, in the office of TESO. It is our priority to calm the woman down. We hope to so free the woman being held."
The police responded with numerous officers and a negotiator. The fire department, ambulances, and a trauma helicopter are also on the way. "Whatever happens, we are ready", a police spokesperson said to the Telegraaf.
The fire department warns people to stay out of the area and give the emergency services room to do their jobs.
Emergency services started responding to the scene just after 8:20 a.m. The first ambulance was deployed at 8:25 a.m., the helicopter was dispatched at 8:34. The first report that this was a hostage situation came in at 8:40 a.m. The situation was escalated to a GRIP 1 at 8:59 a.m.
The ferry is not traveling at the moment, at the police's order.
This is the second hostage situation in the Netherlands in as many days. On Thursday a doctor was held hostage at a plastic surgery clinic in Rotterdam.
Geen halve maatregelen bij de gijzeling bij de Teso. De ene na de andere snelle auto met zwaailichten. #DenHelder #gijzeling pic.twitter.com/LtAzludxut
— Willem Koning (@willem_koning) December 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/RichardBoersen/status/944124242215559168