Dutch remembrance ceremony disrupted [Video]

The Dutch national remembrance ceremony was disrupted this evening after someone in the crowd started screaming towards the end of the two minutes’ silence.

The crowd in one part of the square began to disperse in panic. Queen Beatrix and members of the royal family were rushed to safety and there was uncertainty for a time. A number of people were carried away.

An announcement was quickly made that someone in the thousands-strong crowd had become ill and that the ceremony would continue. The crowd greeted this with applause. The queen returned to the square to more applause. The silence was then continued and followed by the national anthem. The ceremony carried on as scheduled.

Amsterdam police say a man suddenly started screaming and caused a stampede in the crowd. Dozens of people are reported to have been injured in the ensuing chaos. They mostly suffered broken bones and grazes. A police spokesman said the man had been arrested but was unable to identify him or give the reasons for his behaviour.

Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, his wife Princess Máxima and caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende visited the injured after the ceremony. Interim Amsterdam Mayor Lodewijk Asscher said it was terribly sad that the remembrance ceremony had been disrupted.

The Amsterdam ceremony is held each year on 4 May to honour civilians and soldiers who have died in hostilities and during peace missions in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world since the outbreak of the Second World War. Similar commemorations are held throughout the country.

The ceremony for Dutch troops at Camp Holland in Afghanistan took place earlier because of the time difference. Two minutes’ silence were observed and the names of the Dutch ISAF soldiers who have died in Afghanistan were read out.

There was also a Dutch remembrance ceremony in Lebanon for the first time. It was held in the port city of Tyre and the nine Dutch soldiers who died in the country between 1979 and 1985 during the UNIFIL peace mission were remembered.

Radio Netherlands