Queen's Day Accident [graphic]

[puellapaschalis]

Thanks for the addition to the topic, mods. I didn't think that through properly.

I've just got back from the festivities in town (several Dutch cities cancelled, several didn't, including Amsterdam) and will check up on my news sources.

[eagle_eye222001]

Sad.

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[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='puellapaschalis' post='1853428' date='Apr 30 2009, 04:38 PM']Thanks for the addition to the topic, mods. I didn't think that through properly.

I've just got back from the festivities in town (several Dutch cities cancelled, several didn't, including Amsterdam) and will check up on my news sources.[/quote]

Its ok dearie, I could tell you were in shock..

[puellapaschalis]

[url="http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2009/4/30/300409_persconferentie.html"]This article[/url] is from 22.28 CEST (GMT+2).

Figures:
Five dead, requiescant in pace. Three gentlemen and two ladies.
Twelve wounded, four severely. Five gentlemen, four ladies, and three children of 16, 15 and 9 years.
As far as I can tell, no names have yet been released. Please pray for their souls, and their recovery, and those who hold them all dear.

The Royal House [i]was[/i] the target of the driver's actions; apparently he said as much to the policemen who were trying to cut him free from his car. His motives are not known.

He has been identified as "Karst T." Dutch law does not permit the full identification of suspects. His name was dug up earlier in the day, but I don't know I can type it without violating the law, so I won't.

What he precisely is being charged with seems to be unclear from the news articles I've read (to be fair, I've only read two so far). One says he's offically suspected of attempted murder of a head of state (which dusts off Article 108 of Dutch criminal law). Another names an attack on members of the Royal House (think the Queen and her closest relatives; it's a smaller group than the Royal Family), along with murder/manslaughter of those who have lost their lives.

Apparently Art. 108 means it's not just homicide but also a "case in the public interest."

T. has no criminal record, and is according to his records mentally stable. Rumours/reports say he is brain dead, but as far as I can tell this has not been confirmed. He cannot be interrogated as he is still in a critical condition in hospital, and his life is in danger.

[quote name='rkwright' post='1853197' date='Apr 30 2009, 07:14 PM']Any more news on the police shooting the driver to cause this?[/quote]

Not that I have heard. He had approached the spot from a different road, which was also cordoned off. Officers stopped him and he turned his car around. It seems that he then went to another road to the spot, drove through the traffic barriers (causing significant damage to the bonnet), through the crowd, and then into the monument.

I suppose now the investigation has officially begun, the police and/or public prosecutors won't be forthcoming with much detail.

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1853438' date='Apr 30 2009, 09:44 PM']Its ok dearie, I could tell you were in shock..[/quote]

Thanks cmom

Everyone I know is safe (I live the better part of 200km away from where this happened), Deo gratias. But for something like this to happen on a day like today is horrible. The Queen released a televised statement of condolence earlier in which she was visibly shaken (you can see it in the article I linked to at the top - she's in a black dress). Today is the birthday of her mother, the late Queen Juliana.

Thanks all for your prayers. I know they will join ours begging God for healing, peace, and that above all, His will be done

[puellapaschalis]

Sorry, I keep forgetting stuff.

The Queen's statement can be seen [url="http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2009/4/30/300409_reax_incident_koninginnedag.html"]here[/url], not in the article in my previous post.

Today would have been Queen Juliana's 100th birthday.

And now I'm going to do Compline and try and get my nerves back in order for work tomorrow!

[eagle_eye222001]

Thanks for all the updates.

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[XIX]

[quote name='puellapaschalis' post='1853041' date='Apr 30 2009, 08:03 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_U17aqfjGs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_U17aqfjGs[/url]

The tv coverage as it happened.[/quote]
That one guy on the bike was very smart--he ducked in behind a pole as the car was hurtling towards him. A car really cn't try to hit a person that's behind a stationary object like that.

Handy tip if you ever find yourself in peril of being rundown by an automoible.

[puellapaschalis]

The number of deaths has increased to six. [url="http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2009/5/1/010509_dader_dood.html"]The driver died this morning, just before 3am[/url].

The article says, "Het overlijden van de man betekent het einde van het strafrechtelijke onderzoek tegen hem." - "The man's death means the end of the criminal investigation into him." Yet they continue to name him only as Karst T., and so I will too.

May God have mercy on his soul and on the souls of all who died as a result of what happened yesterday.

[puellapaschalis]

A seventh person has died - the Royal Constable who was seriously injured in the incident. His name is Roel Nijenhuis. He was on duty in civvies.

requiescat in pace

Edited May 1, 2009 by puellapaschalis

[homeschoolmom]