Crowdfunding campaigns raise €27,285 for victims of Amsterdam apartment arson so far
Several crowdfunding campaigns are underway to help victims of a fire that destroyed a complex of container homes in Amsterdam Nieuw-West on Sunday. The complex housed mainly students and refugees, all of whom have lost everything. The campaigns have so far raised 27,285 euros.
Student Eva, who lives in an unaffected block of the Riekerhaven complex, and some of her neighbors launched this crowdfunding campaign and have already raised 4,215 euros for their neighbors who lost their homes and possessions. “We have a lot of contact with each other here. So you know the people who lost their homes well. You see all those lives that have now been destroyed. We all feel very sorry for them,” she said to AT5. “People lost everything, but not everyone has home contents insurance. I don’t know if the municipality will release money, but I do know that people have lost everything. We want to ensure that people have clean underwear to wear at least.”
Jenny and Gosku lost their cat Yakki and all their belongings in the fire, they wrote in a GoFundme campaign they launched. “While we received an immense amount of support from friends and family, we’re still in need of financial resources to rebuild our home,” they wrote. The contents of their home were not insured. They’ve raised 6,001 euros so far.
Alice, a TikTok content creator and artist, lost all her equipment along with her home in the fire. “If you’d like to help me get my camera, lights, computer, instruments, microphones, and so on, I would really appreciate it if you could spare me something. I will transfer everything I don’t need for the main necessities to the other victims,” she wrote in her GoFundme campaign, which raised 8,221 euros.
Esmeralda Oomen has raised 2,175 euros for her friends who lost their home in the Riekerhaven fire. Anneke Klijn Velderman has raised 2,533 euros for her friend Ashley so she can find a new home for her and her two pets. And Saartje Rood has raised 4,140 euros to help the victims replace their basic necessities, like passports and clothes.
The fire destroyed 75 homes. The fire department also declared another 60 adjacent homes uninhabitable due to smoke and water damage. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema told AT5 that she is consulting with her government on measures to help the victims. “We try to accommodate and protect the people, who are very vulnerable, as best as possible,” she said.
A 27-year-old resident of the complex is in custody on suspicion of arson.
