Tim van Lieshout from Oss is still recovering from his night out in Brussels on Monday evening. He was at the Belgium-Sweden match and heard the news just before halftime that two Swedish fans had been shot dead in the center. It turned out to be an act of terror and the gunman fled, forcing fans to remain in the stadium for hours. “It was even rumored that the shooter was fifty meters from the stadium,” Tim says on Tuesday morning in the radio program WAKKER!.
Tim (39) is from Oss, but moved to Brussels four years ago, where he works for the PvdA. He regularly attends football matches, but has never found himself in such a threatening situation. “Just before half time I heard that an attack had been committed,” says Tim. The match was stopped at halftime. “There were people in the stadium wearing yellow vests who stopped us. We were not allowed to leave the stadium and there were police officers outside.”
“The police didn’t have walkie-talkies, so we got little information.”
Fortunately, the atmosphere remained friendly. “They were not hard-core supporters, but often families with children. Halfway through the evening there was still singing and a wave going around. So most people were relaxed,” Tim describes.
In the meantime, Tim was getting himself quite excited. “The communication in the stadium was very poor. The police had no walkie-talkies, or communication lines, so we got little information. It was announced four times that we had to sit quietly and be patient, but that was all.”
Tim struck up a conversation with a safety coordinator. “He said that the rumor was that the shooter was fifty meters from the stadium,” says Tim. Although that was a bit of a shock, Tim was not immediately concerned. “I was more concerned with what was happening than with my own safety. . But if that gunman had come onto the property with assault weapons, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“People were alert and looked around nervously.”
Tim waited in the stadium for two hours. Finally, he and the other supporters were allowed to leave around twelve o’clock. They were accompanied by heavily armed police until the first metro station. “The shooter was still on the run at the time, so people were alert and looked around nervously,” says Tim.
There were no officers at the second metro station, which was also within walking distance of the stadium. Tim also finds that worrying. “If supporters use two metro stations, you should at least secure them both.” According to him, poor communication and poor surveillance are characteristic of Belgium. “We can be happy that terrorist situations are handled differently in the Netherlands. Here, armed teams are immediately present at every location.”
Police shot the gunman in a café in Brussels on Tuesday morning. The man was resuscitated, but did not survive. Police also found the weapon he used in the attack.
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