Sword wielding man hospitalized after falling from Rotterdam balcony

A 41-year-old man was hospitalized with serious injuries after he fell about 8 meters from a Rotterdam balcony on Tuesday morning. According to the police, he was swinging a sword and throwing roof tiles on a roof and fell when he tried to evade the police.

The police received the first reports of the man walking over the roofs of Rodenrijslaan, throwing roof tiles and swinging a sword, at around 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday. The man was shouting and smashing things and seemed to be planning to jump off a balcony, the police said.

The fire brigade was called in to place an inflatable fall cushion on the street, and a negotiator was deployed to try and calm the man down. "Unfortunately without result," the police said.

A SWAT team was then sent in to try and overpower the man. "The man escaped arrest, climbed over the balcony railing and fell eight meters from the balcony," the police said. "He was seriously hurt and taken to hospital."

The Rijksrecherche, the department that handles internal investigations at government services like the police, is investigating the incident.