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Fires, Rail Fault and Protest Arrests Test Dutch Emergency Services This Week

ProRail schedules overnight repairs, leaving Schiphol service reduced today.

Overview

  • Amsterdam authorities keep a 120‑unit high‑rise on Harry Koningsbergerstraat closed after a fatal fire, as Stichting Salvage assesses damage and residents remain displaced.
  • A separate blaze on Vrolikstraat started on the first floor and spread via wooden balconies, leaving three homes uninhabitable; five residents were checked for smoke inhalation and nearby units were briefly evacuated.
  • Train services around Schiphol operate at roughly 40% after ProRail identified a broken rail coil, with fixes deferred to tonight to limit wider disruption; later, 17 pro‑Palestina activists who blocked tracks at Amsterdam Centraal were removed and arrests followed on the Stationsplein.
  • Bus company Pouw in Vianen confirms three vehicles were lost in a depot fire that likely began with a short circuit, with the middle vehicle igniting adjacent buses before crews contained the blaze.
  • Police ended a Radboud University building occupation with 23 arrests and supporters rallied outside police stations; in separate cases, a hand grenade found in Amersfoort was safely detonated, a 16‑year‑old was arrested over a Hilversum house explosion, and a 21‑year‑old suspect surrendered in the Feyenoord pole‑attack investigation.