6 dead after truck hits Dutch village barbecue

by Jan Hennop | AFP

Dutch police on Sunday, Aug. 28, said six people were killed and seven others hurt after a truck ran off the top of a dike road and plowed into revelers at a neighborhood barbecue.

The accident happened around 6 pm (1600 GMT) on Saturday when the Spanish-registered lorry went off the road in the village of Nieuw-Beijerland, 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Rotterdam.

The victims were three women aged 28, 32 and 75, and three men aged 41, 50 and 62, all from the local area, police said. One of the injured was in critical condition in hospital.

Police had first confirmed at least two dead after the vehicle drove into the crowded community barbecue, which Dutch news reports said was being hosted by an ice-skating club.

“We now have six people killed and seven injured, one seriously after yesterday’s accident,” police spokeswoman Mirjam Boers told AFP.

“We are still investigating what exactly happened,” she said.

Photographs from the scene identified the truck as belonging to the El Mosca company, based in Spain.

Boers confirmed the 46-year-old driver from Spain had been arrested “and was not under the influence of alcohol,” at the time of the accident.

“He was arrested for causing a fatal accident and serious bodily injury. His role in the incident is under investigation. For the time being, we are keeping all scenarios about the facts open,” police said in a statement.

Residents were laying flowers at the location of the accident on Sunday, an AFP journalist at the site said. A police car stood guard at the scene. (AFP)