Overview
- An NL-Alert urged people to call 112 only for life‑threatening emergencies as call centers were swamped; Rotterdam‑Rijnmond logged nearly 1,700 fire and ambulance incidents, about seven per minute and 60% more than last year.
- The historic Vondelkerk in Amsterdam was largely lost to a major blaze that forced evacuations; firefighters battled the fire from outside due to collapse risk and the cause remains unknown.
- Large concurrent fires stretched crews nationwide, including an industrial blaze in Hillegom, a suspected fireworks‑related apartment fire in Rotterdam‑Ommoord, and a parking‑garage fire in Hellevoetsluis.
- Police and fire crews faced widespread aggression with heavy fireworks, stones and molotov cocktails, prompting ME deployments and a water cannon in hotspots such as Utrecht’s Kanaleneiland and Overvecht, where about 80 arrests were made.
- At least two people died in separate fireworks incidents in Nijmegen and Aalsmeer, a young child was killed in a traffic collision in Bergen op Zoom, and hospitals reported dozens of fireworks injuries, including many minors in the West region.