On Saturday evening, a large truck drove into a group of people having a neighbourhood barbecue in Nieuw-Beijerland around 6 PM.
The empty truck drove off a dike in the hamlet of Zuidzijde in Nieuw-Beijerland. The driver went towards a group of dozens of people barbecuing at the bottom of it.
The truck was standing on the dike before the accident, and the police have yet to find a reason for why it started driving again.
As a result, seven injured people are still in the hospital, one of whom is in critical condition, reports the NOS.
Dutch police say ‘several’ people died after a lorry appears to have gone over a dyke & rolled into neighbourhood barbecue in Nieuw-Beijerland, around 30km south of Rotterdam.
— anna holligan 🎙 (@annaholligan) August 27, 2022
Truck driver, who wasn’t injured, taken in for questioning.
Lorry belongs to Spanish firm. pic.twitter.com/eqewPt6mq0
The tragedy caused six people to lose their lives: two men, aged 50 and 62, and two women aged 32 and 75. A 48-year-old man and 28-year-old woman from a neighbouring village also died.
Out of all the fatalities, three victims belonged to the same family: a mother, a son and a daughter-in-law who was eight months pregnant.
“Everyone was in a panic, everyone tried to help. The emergency services were busy, but there were an awful lot of injured,” says Rebecca van Wijgerden to the NOS, a bystander who came to the scene after the accident.
“Later, the driver got out of his truck and was taken away by the police. Everyone who was there was upset. It is unknown what exactly happened, but people were angry, wanted to know what had happened.”
Driver arrested and truck taken from the site
The police have arrested the driver, and are investigating what happened.
Initial observations show that there was no alcohol or drug use involved. The driver has also taken a blood test which will show if he had taken anything beforehand that might’ve affected his driving.
The truck has now been removed from the site of the accident is now subject to further investigation by the police.
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What a tragedy 😞