NOS News•today, 06:51•Amended today, 07:59
As far as we know, New Year’s Eve passed without any major incidents in most places in the Netherlands, but like every year, the police have also arrested people for violence, obstructing emergency services or other criminal matters. At least dozens of cars were also set on fire across the country.
This is evident from an initial, nightly inventory based on reports from camera journalists, news agencies and regional and local broadcasters. The police, the Ministry of Justice and Security and other organizations will later provide official figures and messages about New Year’s Eve.
It is also not yet clear about the number of injuries caused by fireworks. It was announced last night that a 14-year-old boy died in Rotterdam, probably after setting off heavy fireworks. In the afternoon a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured in Kamperland (Zeeland). According to the police, he had lit a Cobra-6.
Eye injury
Seventeen patients had been admitted to the Eye Hospital in Rotterdam, where fireworks victims with eye injuries are treated. About half are minors.
According to ophthalmologist Tjeerd de Faber, the preliminary picture is comparable to last year. He calls this a sad observation and again calls for a national fireworks ban.
The crowds in hospital emergency departments were also comparable to previous New Year’s Eve, says the doctors’ association NVSHA. According to NVSHA chairman Yara Basta, it was noticeable that many children under the age of 16 came in with alcohol poisoning.
Car fires
In the city of Utrecht alone, more than twenty burnt-out car wrecks were brought to a specially designed site before midnight, an employee of a salvage company told RTV Utrecht.
Lots of car fires again this New Year, like here in Alphen a/d Rijn:
A police car was set on fire at an intersection in the Brabant village of Veen. The mobile unit came into action to restore peace in the village, where it is often restless at New Year’s Eve. According to Omroep Brabant, the police used a water cannon to drive everyone from the intersection.
The riot police were also deployed in Markelo (Overijssel) after a group turned against officers. Three people were arrested there. The riot police also took action in Hoogkerk in Groningen.
Fireworks ban
In nineteen municipalities it was forbidden to light fireworks, but as in previous years, many people did not care. Most municipalities had announced in advance that they would not give priority to enforcing the ban.
And so many fireworks went up in Amsterdam, Haarlem and Utrecht, among others:
Despite the ban on lighting off, there are still many fireworks in cities
There is also little to report about damage to buildings, for example. In Bergen op Zoom the roof of a supermarket burned down completely and in the Frisian village of Kimswerd a detached house with a thatched roof caught fire.
