Police could not say exactly how many fatalities were on Saturday evening. She first wants to be sure of exact numbers. This can only be given when the truck has been recovered. A salvage company started this around 22:45 on Saturday. There are still some dead people underneath, police said earlier in the day. “In any case, the shock here is enormous. It’s terrible what happened here tonight.”
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Black screens
The embankment has been cordoned off on both sides by the police. The scene of the accident is lined with black screens and red and white stretched ribbons.
Police and fire trucks drive back and forth near the village of Zuidzijde. It is dusk and the area is barely lit. The brighter the police lights of the passing vehicles flash.
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neighborhood party
The incident took place near Louis Zagwijn’s house. “I suddenly heard sirens while I was watching TV at home. It’s horrible, a neighborhood party with the ice club. He drove right through that tent. If I wasn’t so infirm, I would have been at the barbecue. Who knows how it would have ended. The police told us not to look. It’s awful. I’ve lived here for 40 years, but I’ve never experienced anything so terrible.” The embankment has been cordoned off on several sides by the police.
Some inhabitants live between hope and fear. “Were there any deaths?” a passer-by asks in despair. A woman says that her child ‘was also lost for a while’. “But luckily she is now right.” A member of the ice club walks with a straight face through the black screens, which are otherwise kept closed to others.
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The police report that local residents are being taken care of and that victim assistance is being provided.
havoc
A specialized company came to recover the truck on Saturday evening, after which specialists could also take the bodies of the victims with them. The driver, a 46-year-old man from Spain, was uninjured and has been arrested for his involvement in the incident. The car has been seized for technical examination. The police cannot yet say anything about the circumstances, according to a spokeswoman, “all scenarios remain open.”
The dike, which is near the village, slopes sharply, with little relief space on the verge. At the site of the accident, a large amount of damage is visible, including picnic tables that have been knocked over. Fences are now being placed around the truck, which has a Spanish registration number, to store the truck and possible victims. A crane truck has been called in for this. “The towing work begins. Research has been done. Bodies have been taken away,” writes a reporter from RTV Rijnmond at 22:38 on Twitter. Moments later, he reports that a second body has driven away. The trailer is now back on the dike. Two funeral cars just drove away, the reporter said.
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