Hilversum

A fire truck responding to a wildfire between Baarn and Hilversum, crashed in Baarn on Tuesday. The fire truck collided with a passenger car and landed on its side. A total of five people were hurt, RTL Nieuws reports.

There were two people in the passenger car, and four firefighters in the truck. All four firefighters were taken to hospital, a spokesperson for the fire department said to the broadcaster. One of the people in the passenger car was unhurt, the other was also taken to hospital by ambulance.

Tens of thousands of homes in the Gooi region were without power for a short period on Friday morning. The power outage was resolved at around 9:45 a.m., though it may still take some time before power is restored everywhere, according to grid manager TenneT.

The power outage affected Hilversum, Huizen, Bussum, Naarden, Blaricum, Laren and surrounds, NU.nl reports. A number of broadcasters, including RTL, NOS and Radio 538, also had to run on generators for a time.

At a Hilversum city council meeting mayor Pieter Broertjes made a joke referring to children's song from the 1860's "Ten Little Niggers". The remark led to furious reactions on social media, with many accusing the Hilversum mayor of racism.

A group of anti-Zwarte Piet protesters occupied a footbridge to the Mediapark in Hilversum on Monday morning. They call on broadcaster NTR to use only so-called Chimney Pieten with soot marks on their faces in the Sinterklaasjournaal, instead of Pieten with completely black faces, NU.nl reports.

Liander seriously endangered a number of firefighters during a fire in a transformer house along the rails in Hilversum on Saturday, according to mayor Pieter Broertjes. The energy supplier stated that the power was shut down remotely, but when the fire brigade started extinguishing the fire, the building was still under high voltage, the mayor wrote in a letter to the Hilversum city council, NOS reports.

A woman was found dead in a villa in Hilversum on Monday. Police officers responded to the villa after a report of a suspicious situation. The police are investigating whether the woman was killed in a crime, NOS reports.

So far nothing is known about the victim's identity, age or how she died. Forensic investigators and officers with sniffer dogs were spotted in and around the home on Waldecklaan on Monday.

After the municipal elections, the proportion of woman in the city councils of the Netherlands' 70 largest municipalities increased from 28 percent to 34 percent, newspaper Trouw reports based on its own research. 

Some municipalities, like Amsterdam and Heerhugowaard, now have an equal number of male and female councilors. In Heerenveen and Waddinxveen the municipal councils now consist of more women than men. Utrecht, Hilversum and Nieuwegein are very close to having the same number of women as men on the council. 

The Koninklijke Marechaussee is calling for more supervision and security at small airports in the Netherlands, Trouw reports. The lack of supervision at the 11 smaller airports in the country makes them vulnerable to drug- and human trafficking, according to the newspaper.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee is a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military and is responsible for airport security.

All train traffic to and from both Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Centraal was halted Monday evening as snow continuously fell upon the region beginning just after noon. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at the airport, according to local broadcaster AT5. Large lines formed at the taxi rank there, while wait times for Uber vehicles was in the double digits.

The airport was setting up cots for people forced to sleep at the airport, broadcaster NOS reported.

A man arrested for holding a woman hostage at the Media Park in Hilversum on Thursday suffers from psychiatric problems, the Public Prosecutor confirmed. The 33-year-old man form The Hague told the authorities that he wanted screen time to express his views. He acted alone, the Prosecutor said, according to NOS.

The police arrested a man at the NPO 3FM building in the Hilversum Media Park premises around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday after he held a woman hostage there for an hour and a half. The woman is unharmed and is receiving victim assistance, the police said, NU.nl reports.

The police have thus far refused comment about the suspect's identity and motives. According to the police, he threatened a woman in the parking lot in front of the building with a knife. He then forced her into the building and held her captive, authorities allege.