Driver triggers car explosion at Dam Square in Amsterdam; Experts sent to investigate
A violent incident forced authorities to cut access to Amsterdam’s Dam Square for the second time in a week, after a car driven on to the city center square caught fire on Thursday. Investigators believe the driver intentionally set the car on fire, possibly by explosive, leaving him injured as a result, police said. He was being treated by medical personnel, but his condition was not released.
“Camera footage shows that the fire on the Dam started after an explosion in the car. At that time, quite a few people were near the vehicle,” police said shortly after the incident. There were no known injuries to bystanders.
Firefighters were dispatched at about 1:25 p.m. to a report of a car fire on the Damrak in the city center. A trauma team was dispatched by helicopter to Dam Square a few minutes later, along with the fire department’s chief officer and counselling support for first responders.
The vehicle was found on fire against a concrete planter near the National Monument. However, the popular square was expected to remain cordoned off for some time as the investigation continues.
An explosives expert from the police department was at the scene to help determine which, if any, flammable substances were present in the vehicle. The police will also receive national assistance in the investigation.
The Dutch military’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service, or EODD, was sent to Dam Square. “The Dam will therefore remain largely closed off for the time being,” police affirmed.
The incident will come as a shock for Amsterdam residents, entrepreneurs, and tourists, many of whom were taken aback by a brutal stabbing spree that left several people hurt. The incident unfolded exactly a week ago just a few streets north of Dam Square.
Five people were transported in critical condition with stab wounds, including a 19-year-old Dutch woman living in Amsterdam and four tourists. They were identified as a 26-year-old Polish man, a 73-year-old Belgian woman, a 67-year-old American woman, and her 69-year-old American husband.
The Polish man was released from the hospital. The other four were improving, and were recently upgraded to stable condition.
The suspect, a 30-year-old Ukrainian man from the breakaway Donetsk region, was tackled by a British tourist who witnessed one of the attacks. The man held the suspect down until police officers arrested him. The British man was awarded Amsterdam’s Hero Medal by Mayor Femke Halsema.
The suspect’s leg was wounded when he was detained by the tourist, and the individual was treated at a hospital. He was brought before an examining magistrate for an initial hearing earlier this week.
Prosecutors announced that he was being held on suspicion of having a terrorism-related motive, an aggravating factor attached to five counts of murder or manslaughter. He was remanded to jail in restricted custody until his arraignment, which should take place in mid-April.
