Amsterdam’s historic Dam Sq. was shaken Thursday, April 3 when a small pink automobile exploded into flames close to the Nationwide Monument, simply meters from the place a British vacationer heroically tackled a suspected knifeman final week.
Dutch police arrested the motive force, a 50-year-old Dutch man from Noord-Holland, charging him of arson and a doable suicide try. No different accidents have been reported.
The incident happened at round 1.15pm because the automobile veered slowly from Damrak towards the monument, the place lots of of individuals, together with vacationers and strolling tour teams, have been gathered. Video footage captured a sudden explosion contained in the car, sending bystanders sprinting in all instructions. ‘The bottom shook underneath my legs,’ Jim de Jong, proprietor of ‘t Nieuwe Kafé, advised Algemeen Dagblad. Witnesses described a ‘big bang’ adopted by screams, although panic remained contained, with one bystander telling Het Parool, ‘It wasn’t like everybody began working.’
Suspect in Amsterdam automobile bombing escapes with accidents
The motive force emerged from the automobile engulfed in flames, rolling on the cobblestone earlier than staggering to his ft, clutching his stomach. Police, had already been tailing the car, evacuated the world. One officer aimed a taser whereas one other shouted instructions, however it wasn’t till a fireplace extinguisher arrived that the flames have been doused. The suspect was hospitalised and remanded into custody.
That is the second violent incident in Dam Square inside every week. On Friday, March 28, a 30-year-old Ukrainian stabbed 5 folks close by, together with two Individuals, in what prosecutors known as a terrorist assault. A British vacationer who subdued the knifeman was awarded a ‘hero’s medal’ by Mayor Femke Halsema. Police are investigating Thursday’s explosion, retaining all eventualities open as Amsterdam is left on edge from back-to-back shocks.
