Man arrested in Amsterdam store abduction; Woman found safe

Amsterdam police arrested a 44-year-old man from Harderwijk Monday afternoon on suspicion of abducting a woman from a store on Kinkerstraat in Amsterdam-West. The woman has been found and is in good health, authorities said.

Earlier Monday, police launched an urgent search for the woman, who was forcibly taken from the store around 11:50 a.m. by two unidentified men. Surveillance footage confirmed the abduction, and the victim was last seen walking with the suspects toward Jacob van Lennepkade.

The woman, described as about 40 years old with brown curly hair and wearing a long floral dress, had sparked a widespread search. Police issued a Burgernet alert with descriptions of the suspects: one man around 40 years old, 1.60 meters tall, light-skinned with a beard, dressed in black; and a second suspect about 25 years old, 1.90 meters tall with black hair, no facial hair, also dressed in black.

Separately, a major fire broke out around 3 p.m. on Borgerstraat, near the abduction location. Firefighters rescued several people using a ladder truck. The fire started on the ground floor and spread to upper floors, prompting evacuations of neighboring residences. The cause remained under investigation as of 4 p.m.