Overview
- Police reported extreme violence against responders in multiple cities, with ME units and a water cannon deployed and about 80 arrests in Utrecht after sustained attacks with heavy fireworks, bricks and Molotovs.
- Large fires marked the night, including a mattress‑storage warehouse in Hillegom that prompted evacuations and a separate NL-Alert, and severe damage to Amsterdam’s Vondelkerk, with causes still under investigation.
- Authorities confirmed deadly fireworks incidents in Nijmegen and Aalsmeer and reported severe injuries to minors, including a 13‑year‑old in Arnhem, alongside other serious accidents such as a fatal collision in Bergen op Zoom.
- Dozens to hundreds of blazes across regions destroyed vehicles, damaged homes and public buildings, and wiped out a sport hall in Bedum where asbestos was contained locally and removal is scheduled to begin 5 January.
- A volunteer elderly‑transport bus in Leidschendam was blown up by a firework device during unrest, and the Woej foundation says it will file an arson complaint as fire crews described repeated withdrawals under attack.