Emergency services had to deal with thousands of incidents around the turn of the year. This is evident from reports from the night that most safety regions have now published. In total there are more than 3,500 reports.
It is possible that some incidents have been counted twice, for example because a fire broke out and an injured person had to go to the emergency room, but on the other hand, some of the safety regions have not yet published figures.
In some regions the damage appears to be less serious, such as in the North Holland North safety region, which speaks of a “manageable” New Year’s Eve. In Zaanstreek-Waterland, the fire brigade and ambulance were “considerably less busy” than last year, in Gelderland-Midden it was “busy but manageable”.
Yet the general picture remains that New Year’s Eve was filled with unrest, ranging from fires and accidents to violent confrontations. South Holland South region: “A quiet New Year’s Eve remains the busiest night of the year.”
Lawlessness
The Groningen fire brigade speaks of “serious incidents” after a major fire in Stadskanaal and two fatal traffic accidents. In Brabant-Noord it was a “busy evening” with “significant damage” and “personal injuries”.
“In the first hours of the new year, the New Year’s Eve tradition has degenerated into a form of lawlessness in which everything seems permitted and where unfortunately the tradition has also ended in tragedy for a number of people this year,” says Arjen Littooij, head of the Rotterdam safety region, in one declaration. The fire brigade received 607 reports in that region, and ambulances made at least 227 trips.
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New Year’s Eve full of incidents, emergency services pelted and riot police deployed in several cities
In and around The Hague, the fire brigade counted 528 incidents and the police another 287. Firefighters were attacked twice, the safety region writes. “Violence and aggression against the fire brigade are not accepted and that is why a report was immediately filed.” The fire brigade was also pelted with fireworks several times in the south of Gelderland. The national police announced earlier in the day that dozens of officers were injured.
‘Beyond all limits’
“The fact that so many aid workers were attacked during New Year’s Eve goes beyond all bounds,” writes outgoing minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection, D66). on X. “You stay away from care providers.” Outgoing Minister of Justice Dilan Yesilgöz joins to that: “It’s bizarre that people time and again take it into their heads to attack emergency workers with fireworks and violence.”
The Utrecht fire brigade responded to more than two hundred fires. “For many Utrecht residents, New Year’s Eve was what it should be: a great party,” says mayor Sharon Dijksma, according to the ANP news agency. “At the same time, there was a group of people who misbehaved and felt it necessary to throw fireworks at police officers and fire brigades. […] I am very concerned about this trend.”
There was a local fireworks ban in sixteen municipalities this New Year. Mayors of those municipalities are not surprised that people have set off fireworks despite the ban, writes the ANP news agency. The firing “was taken into account,” responds an Apeldoorn spokesperson. Nijmegen mayor Hubert Bruls: “It [verbod] supports, you can use it additionally against someone, but it is not a top priority.”