Local residents who wanted to lay flowers at the spot in Nieuw-Beijerland where a terrible disaster took place on Saturday evening had to go to Spijkenisse or Rotterdam on Sunday. Because in the Hoeksche Waard the shops are closed on Sundays. Many did. There are cards with the bouquets with: ‘Incredible’. And ‘Good luck’. There are no words for what happened here 24 hours earlier, say the people who get off their bicycles on Sunday afternoon and silently bow their heads.
Saturday evening just after six o’clock in Nieuw-Beijerland a Spanish truck drives at a T-junction of the dike, right through the neighborhood barbecue of IJsclub De Kom Zuidzijde. The truck dives down the dike and drives straight for the neighborhood barbecue where guests are just queuing for a sausage or a hamburger. Deafening screams, screams. Parents try to pull their children away from the truck at the last minute. Complete chaos and panic.
On Sunday morning, the police announced that at least six people had died in the accident. It concerns a 75-year-old woman and two men aged 50 and 62 from Nieuw-Beijerland, a 41-year-old man and 28-year-old woman from Goudswaard and a 32-year-old woman from Oud-Beijerland. Three victims come from one family. It concerns a couple whose wife was heavily pregnant, and the mother or mother-in-law. Seven people were injured and are in hospital, one of them in critical condition. Children are also among the injured. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima say they are “shocked and affected”. Prime Minister Rutte also expressed his condolences.
Not drunk
According to eyewitnesses, the Spanish driver (46) made a strange impression when he was removed from the vehicle and taken by the police for questioning. He was aware. Could he have been dead drunk, they wondered? Police reported on Sunday that this was not the case. In any case, he stopped just before he drove off the slope at the T-junction. He may have had brief contact with the driver of a white van approaching the intersection from another side. That man has also been heard.
At the press conference in the town hall of Hoeksche Waard on Sunday evening, acting mayor Charlie Aptroot of the municipality of Hoeksche Waard, the district chief of police South Holland-South Kini Homan and the chief public prosecutor Hugo Hillenaar cannot provide much more information. They express their deepest condolences, Aptroot has just come from a private meeting of relatives and those present at the barbecue. There was “a lot of crying,” he says. There is care for everyone, including the emergency services, and special attention is paid to the children present.
Technical research needed
There is still no answer to the most pressing question – why did the truck run off the dike, said Chief Officer Hillenaar. For the simple reason that there is still too much research to be done. The results of the driver’s blood test are not yet available, he may have been taking medication. The truck must be turned “inside out” by technical researchers. And the team of 15 detectives still have to hear many witnesses, among other things.
The mayor said several times that there was a lot of appreciation from those involved for the quick action of the emergency services. They were there very quickly, local residents say, who stood together in amazement and shock until late on Saturday. In addition to ambulances and police, two trauma helicopters landed in the meadow and another was in the air. An encampment was set up within an hour with stadium lighting and screens so detectives, firefighters and salvage workers could do their job.
Large party tent
The drama was so great, because there were a lot of registrations for the party. In the afternoon people who had signed up for it still canoeed. Around five o’clock, about sixty people gathered: the elderly, young people, families with children. The clubhouse of the ice club is located in the ‘armpit’ of the T-junction, where the Zuidzijdsedijk meets the Langeweg. On the field, which is a few meters deeper than the road, a large party tent and several picnic tables had already been set up the day before.
The barbecue could not have taken place for two years because of corona. A board member had just given a speech. Local residents who were present tell us about how nice it was that it was now possible again. A new logo was announced. The barbecue had started around five o’clock.
If I hadn’t just grabbed some bread I would have been under that truck
Marian Koedood local resident
After the impact there was silence for two or three seconds, says Marian Koedood, who lives just around the corner. “If I hadn’t just grabbed some bread, I would have been under that truck.” Her husband Henk (61) immediately called 112 and looked where he could help. When paramedics and the police were present, she called her daughter in Spijkenisse. She was shocked and jumped into her car. The mayor also did that and spoke to those involved the same evening.
Marian, Henk, their daughter and neighbors also stood outside on Saturday night, watching and talking. “I can’t sleep,” they said. Henk stared incessantly at the spot where forensic officers were working on their knees. A cherry picker lifted the charger piece by piece. Black and silver hearses were waiting. Black coffins were pushed inside. They rode out of the bright glow of the lamps and disappeared into the darkness.
App from his boss
On Sunday afternoon, Frans Bakker tells with his hands in his pockets how he received an app from his boss around midnight on Saturday: “Are you still awake?” Yes, he was still awake. Would he be able to come and help clean up with the shovel around two o’clock in the morning? He did, he says. He and his mates worked until six o’clock in the morning.
Bakker clears terrain more often with large equipment, but he had never seen this before. On the dike he tells about the party tent full of blood, a pram with all four tires off the rims, shattered benches and tables, cutlery strewn like flower seeds. And shards, lots and lots of shards. They had also removed the streamers in the trees.
The police had specifically asked to clean up really carefully, he says. As good and clean as possible. “Otherwise it would only attract disaster tourists.”