Four dead, five hurt in six-car crash

Four people were killed in a traffic accident on provincial road N34 near Borger in Drenthe on Sunday night. Another five people were seriously injured in the accident that involved six vehicles, the police confirmed.

The emergency services were called out just before 9 p.m. with several ambulances, the fire brigade and the police dispatched to the scene. A trauma helicopter was also deployed.

“There is a lot of personnel at the scene. The emergency services are still very busy providing first aid,” police said on social media at about 10:15 p.m. There were nine passengers in the vehicles in total.

The N34 was closed for investigation but reopened before the Monday morning rush hour.

No official details were released about the cause of the accident. The Dagblad van het Noorden previously reported that a car had driven off the road and down an embankment, but a police spokesperson could not confirm this yet. Police also did not say anything about the nature of the injuries.

The mayor of the municipality of Borger-Odoorn, Jan Seton, was also at the location to thank the firefighters and other emergency services for their efforts.

Following the accident, a GRIP-1 regional emergency was declared, meaning that emergency services unite under a single incident commander to manage the multi-department response.

The police said it would release more information regarding the incident later on Monday.