Fire ravages Amsterdam church on ‘unsettled’ Dutch New Year’s Eve

THE HAGUE – A huge inferno gutted a 19th century Amsterdam church on Jan 1, as the Netherlands endured an unsettled New Year’s Eve with two dead from fireworks and “unprecedented” violence against police.

The blaze broke out in the early hours at the Vondelkerk, a tourist attraction that has overlooked one of the city’s top parks since 1872.

The 50m high tower collapsed and the roof was badly damaged but the structure was expected to remain intact, Amsterdam authorities said.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.

The head of the Dutch Police Union, Ms Nine Kooiman, reported an “unprecedented amount of violence against police and emergency services” over New Year’s Eve.

She said she herself had been pelted three times by fireworks and other explosives as she worked a shift in Amsterdam.

Shortly after midnight, the authorities released a rare countrywide alert on mobile phones warning people not to call overwhelmed emergency services unless lives were at risk.

Reports of attacks against police and firefighters were widespread across the country. In the southern city of Breda, people threw petrol bombs at police.

Two people, a 17-year-old boy and a 38-year-old man, were killed in fireworks accidents. Three others were seriously injured.

The eye hospital in Rotterdam said it had treated 14 patients, including 10 minors, for eye injuries. Two received surgery.

It was the last year before an expected ban on unofficial fireworks, so the Dutch bought them in massive quantities.

According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, revellers splashed out a record €129 million (S$194.7 million) on fireworks.

Some areas had been designated firework-free zones, but this appeared to have little effect.

An AFP journalist in such a zone in The Hague reported loud bangs until around 3am. AFP