It was an exciting hour on Friday afternoon for hundreds of detainees and employees of the prison in Vught, but also for dozens of construction workers and at least one volunteer. Due to the hostage situation in the complex, they were also trapped for hours.
An 80-year-old volunteer from Den Bosch of the Humanist Association was not allowed to go home for hours because of the hostage situation in Vught. Mid-afternoon, three employees were held against their will by one of the detainees in the Penitentiary Psychiatric Center (PPC). According to sources, Corné H. is the perpetrator. He was convicted for a hostage situation in Ede in March 2024.
“I had a pager and it had been going on all afternoon,” said the volunteer, who did not want to be named. “Then you know: something is going on somewhere.”
She was in a different department than where the hostage situation was, but had to stay inside. “You are not allowed to call, you are not allowed to do anything.”
No phones
Dozens of construction workers working on a construction project behind the gates were also not allowed to leave. During the hostage situation, they had to go into a shack and stay there until it was over.
No one is allowed to have a telephone with them when working on prison grounds. The construction workers also did not know what was going on at first. They could later follow the news via a car radio.
The hostage situation was intense, even for the prisoners themselves. “Someone has been stuck here for twenty years and has never experienced it like this, so that was really something special,” says the volunteer. Even though she didn’t know exactly what was going on, she remained positive. “You try to keep it a bit cozy. I wasn’t afraid.”
Here you can read all the stories about the hostage situation in the PI in Vught.