Carnival Sunday: head falls from float on top of woman in Oldenzaal, peak crowds in Den Bosch | Interior

In the city center of Den Bosch it is ‘extremely busy’, says the municipality. Just before four, they called on people not to come to the city center anymore, but to celebrate ‘elsewhere’. “Walk through the wide main roads and follow the directions on the LED screens,” advises the municipality.

An accident with a float in the Twentse Carnival parade in Oldenzaal hit Sunday afternoon injured a spectator. Part of the parade car of Hoalthakkers from Losser fell down and landed on top of the woman. The woman was taken to the hospital in Enschede by ambulance.

Text continues below image

The accident happened on one of the busiest sections of the parade route. How the part came loose is still a mystery. “Everything was checked and secured,” says a member of the carnival association. “We have followed all safety requirements. And we’ve been doing it this way for years. Yesterday there was nothing wrong and this morning when we put the float back together again.” The fright among the spectators was great, but there was no panic.

The victim is a 39-year-old woman from Overijssel, the police said. Her injuries were not life-threatening, officials said. The driver of the carnival car has been arrested. Police say they are investigating the incident as a traffic accident.

In Grave in North Brabant, the festivities in the carnival tent on the Loswal were stopped on Saturday evening because a former carnival prince became unwell and died. It’s about Harry de Greeff (67) of carnival association Pothuusburg. The ambulance was called around 10 p.m., but any help came too late. From today, Sunday, the activities will continue again.

This is done at the ‘express wish’ of the family. That is stated on the Facebook page of the carnival club: ‘As Harry would have wanted it’. De Greeff was a well-known inhabitant of Grave. He ran the eponymous family business in caravans and campers.

This year was the first time in Den Bosch used deposit cups, but this was not a unanimous success. The reusable cups in ‘Oeteldonk’ were intended to reduce the traditional waste mountain. Dozens of catering companies pour into the cups and ask for a deposit of one euro per cup. But this did not go entirely according to plan, says branch chairman Kuenen: on Friday and Saturday, twice the number of cups was used than expected. “A number of entrepreneurs refused to pay the deposit on Friday and Saturday.”

According to Kuenen, this could have several reasons: entrepreneurs receive the agreed compensation through the supplier, there is a lack of time to clean dirty cups, and/or there is no time to check whether the used cups are still intact. On Friday evening there was force majeure due to, among other things, a pin failure. Consultation on Sunday morning should make the coming days easier. According to Kuenen, the scheme did ensure that there was ‘significantly less waste’ on the street than usual.

Next Wednesday, a lot of carnival waste will not be collected in Den Bosch and Maastricht, because municipal officials, including city cleaning staff, will go on strike for a week from that moment on. That says trade union FNV, which organizes the strike. The civil servants want higher wages and automatic compensation for inflation in next year’s collective labor agreement.

The strikers are aware that their work stoppage will cause nuisance in the southern cities, because carnival is celebrated there until Tuesday, said Thom Josten of FNV Overheid director. “As usual, they prefer to keep working hard to keep Maastricht ‘chiek and sjoen’, because they are extremely proud of their city. Yet people put down the work to stand up for themselves.”

Watch our news videos in the playlist below: