Girl, 8, stabbed to death in Rotterdam hospital; father arrested

A 41-year-old man from Hoogvliet was arrested at the Maastad Hospital in Rotterdam on Friday night on suspicion of stabbing his 8-year-old daughter to death, presumably in the hospital, the police said in a statement. The man will be arraigned on Tuesday.

According to the police, the man came to the hospital with his daughter earlier in the evening for unknown reasons. When they left again, the crisis team of youth protection called the police. Aid workers were very concerned about the welfare of the girl.

At 9:30 p.m. the man was again at the hospital. He told hospital workers where his daughter was in the hospital. Police officers found the girl critically injured in the radiology department. She had been stabbed. Hospital workers resuscitated the child and rushed her into emergency surgery, but it was to no avail. She succumbed to her injuries.

The Maasstad Hospital released a statement saying that the girl was not a patient of the hospital. A spokesperson called the girl's death horrible. "Our employees are used to a lot, but this is a terrible situation, she said to NOS.

The suspect will be arraigned on Tuesday, a police spokesperson said to the Telegraaf. The police want to make contact with people and organizations who know the family.