Dutch Royal Family in "Car attack"

BBC
1 5 09

A car has crashed into a crowd watching a parade involving Dutch Queen Beatrix and her family, killing four people and seriously injuring several others.

The car eventually careered into a monument, narrowly missing an open-topped bus carrying the royals.

No members of the royal family were hurt in the incident, in Apeldoorn, about 90km (56 miles) from Amsterdam.

Dutch officials said the driver, who was seriously hurt in the crash, appeared to have acted deliberately.

But after searching the car and his home, investigators have ruled out terrorism as a motive.

They have not named the man, but said he was a Dutch national aged 38.

Apeldoorn mayor Fred de Graaf told a news conference that four people had been killed in the incident and 13 injured - five of them seriously.

'Royal shock'

Cynthia Boll, a photographer at the scene, told the BBC the car was already badly damaged before it slammed into the crowds at high speed.

"There were people everywhere, you could definitely see that it was serious because everywhere was blood and shoes ripped off and all the people giving CPR," she said.

The crowds were celebrating Queen's Day - a national holiday in the Netherlands when thousands of people take to the streets to mark the queen's official birthday.

Officials said flags are at half mast on government buildings across the country and all planned celebrations have been called off.

Witnesses said the streets of Apeldoorn are now empty.

In a statement from the royal family, the queen gave her condolences to the victims of the crash.

"Her majesty the queen, on behalf of other members of the royal family, expresses her shock at the incident," the statement said.