Four die in Queen's Day tragedy

[AngryAmish]

Source: Radio Netherlands

Celebrations of Queen's Day in Apeldoorn took a tragic turn around midday on Thursday. Four people were killed and 13 injured when a car ploughed through a crowd of spectators watching the Queen's Day parade. As the open-topped coach carrying the Royal Family passed, the car broke through the barriers, hitting 23 people and crashing into a monument.

The public prosecutor said at a press conference that the driver was acting intentionally, but that there is no terrorist connection. The 38-year old man is reported to have made two earlier attempts to cross safety barriers, driving at a speed of at least 80 kms/hr. The driver was injured in the crash and had to be cut from his vehicle, after which he was arrested and taken away for interrogation. No details have been released about his identity.

Police are meticulously searching the car, assisted by the bomb disposal squad and in the presence of the National Anti-terror Co-ordinator.

Read more: http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/zijlijn/6281019/Four-die-in-Queens-Day-tragedy

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What sort of nutball would do this?

[mainegreen]

1. Saw the video. Nuts.

The look of horror on I think the princess's face said it all: tragedy.

I may have to call my family over there today.

[Coventina]

2. What a terrible thing. My condolences to the victims' families.

:-(

[Tab]

3. Driver kills four in attack on Dutch Royal Family at public parade

Source: Times Online

A speeding car hurtled towards an open top bus carrying the Queen of the Netherlands today before smashing into a crowd and killing four people who were watching the royal parade.

A 38-year-old Dutchman, who was driving a black hatchback, has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out an attack on the Royal Family.

Thirteen people were injured, five of whom remain in a serious condition, but the Queen and fellow members of the Dutch royal family were not hurt.

The black Suzuki ploughed through the crowd during a parade to mark the Queen’s Day national holiday in the city of Apeldoorn.

Princess Maxima, wife of heir Willem-Alexander, watched in horror, with her hand over her mouth, as the vehicle sped a few metres past the royal bus.

Footage of the incident shows the damaged car continuing to be driven at high-speed after crashing into members of the crowd.

People were thrown up into the air as the car swerved across police railings, where hundreds were waiting to see the Queen. The car was only halted once it had slammed into a stone monument in the centre of the city, about 50 miles east of Amsterdam.

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6200367.ece

[ohio2007]

4. ok, what was the "flying Dutchman's" grievance with the royal family?

and why did the police saw off the roof of the car?

An accident perhaps?

Surely you jest.

[Cassandra]

5. The Dutch royal family's wealth...

comes mostly from oil.

[demo dutch]

7. Royal Shell

[Beacool]

6. Well, this just proves that we don't have the market cornered on crazies.

I'm glad the royals didn't get hurt, but how sad that 4 people are dead.

:(

[demo dutch]

8. Latest reports are that the guy lost his job and was to be kicked out of his house

[comtec]

9. It's terrible what happened

and they did the sensible thing and canceled the rest of the festivities in 3 cities including apeldoorn.
I have some friends who were going to apeldoorn. I imagine they are fine, but I haven't heard yet.
My wife and I only found out after we came home from visiting the city.

vresselijk!

The royals, while i find it annoying they are STILL a part of the government and getting all kinds of monies, etc, etc, etc, they are pretty much harmless, and when they're in the spotlight being "nice".

compared to other royals, our's (their's really) are quite tame and nice.

[Libertas1776]

10. Officials: Motorist Tried to Run into Dutch Queen, Kills 5

Source: Newsday

APELDOORN, Netherlands - A Dutch driver careened through police barriers and plowed into a crowd of merrymakers cheering their popular queen Thursday, in a premeditated assault on the royal family that killed five bystanders and injured 12, authorities said.

The speeding car, already dented apparently from catapulting bystanders into the air, passed within a few yards of the open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and her family down a parade route, then smashed into a stone monument.

"I think that it has become clear that this happened with premeditation," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said.

Prosecutors said the driver, badly injured and still in his crumpled car, acknowledged targeting the queen and her family.




Read more: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-woqueen0501,0,1405103.story

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Holy Crap!

[HeresyLives]

11. Here's some initial video of it, takes a few secs to load

http://en.video.canoe.tv/video/news/world-watch/1896809959/raw-video-violent-crash-misses-dutch-queen/21672725001

Nothing graphic in it, btw.

[Libertas1776]

12. My God...

This is just unspeakable.

[niyad]

13. how utterly horrible. brings back a lot of very painful memories of thanksgiving day, 1980 in reno.

my prayers and thoughts for all those affected by this terrible event.

[Blue_Tires]

18. chilling and surreal photo -- that guard hasn't even reacted yet

but i know it's a split-second thing and a frame or two later he realizes what's going on...

and what's the point of blaming the royal family for his hardship?

[Alamuti Lotus]

14. Why do the Dutch still have a 'Royal Family'?

[hack89]

15. Because they want to? nt

[Coventina]

17. Why do the Saudis?

:shrug:

[Alamuti Lotus]

20. because they have the American guns & money stop anyone else from stepping up

Now, back to the Dutch..

[Coventina]

22. Well, I am not Dutch myself so I can't say for sure why

they "still" have a royal family. I know that they are generally well-loved by the Dutch people.

The Dutch royal family is a fairly recent thing. They are descendents of Prince William of Orange, nicknamed "William the Silent." He was the son of a lesser-noble German family who inherited vast estates in the Low Countries by an accident of inheritance (long story I won't bother to recount here).

Anyway, he came in to his possessions at a time when the Dutch people were coming under increasing oppression by their Spanish rulers. He was an incredibly progressive guy for his time. He was against torture and the death penalty when both things were used without a second thought.

He became more and more distressed by the Spanish use of the Inquisition and other atrocities occurring in the Netherlands, and eventually made a complete break with the government and started fighting for Dutch independence from Spain.

He wrote a document arguing that when a government becomes tyrannical, it has lost its right to govern. Many of his arguments were used by the "founding fathers" of this nation in their break with England.

Anyway, he was eventually assassinated by a Spanish operative, and never lived to see Dutch indpendence (he wouldn't have anyway, as it took 80 years of sporadic warfare).

Generations later, his descendant was asked, by the Dutch people, to become their king. Initially he refused the title of King, and accepted the title of Prince, along with a strong constitution which limited his powers. Later, under the threat of Napoleonic encroachment, he took the title of King, (I guess you use whatever tools you have at your disposal to advertise that you are a sovereign entity).

So anyway, to sum up a very long story, the Netherlands have only had a constitutional monarchy for about 200 years, less time than the United States has been in existence! It was their choice to institute it and asked the descendent of the man who had first fought for their freedom (and he wasn't even Dutch, but German!)

It seems to have worked well for them, as they have one of the most free and open societies on earth.

I'm anti-monarchy myself, but it seems that the Dutch have the least offensive monarchy that I know of.

I've greatly simplified this story for the sake of brevity, but I invite you, or anyone else to read more about Dutch history. It really is a fascinating subject.

[JVS]

21. Because the driver didn't have anything more powerful than a Geo.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Man who attacked Dutch royals dies

Prosecutors say the man who killed five people with his car during an attack on the Dutch royal house has died of his injuries.

The suspect, a 38-year-old man identified by Dutch media as Karst Tates, had been in critical condition since the attack during the Netherlands Queen's Day holiday on Thursday.

Prosecuters confirmed his death Friday morning.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ilgyK22JkrE2dgeitbQ9O52O8OXAD97TA6P00

[ConcernedCanuk]

19. hmmmm

.
.
.

:freak: