Crash at Dutch parade kills 5

Crash at Dutch parade kills 5

APELDOORN, Netherlands (AP) — Bright skies and a festive Queen’s Day mood brought thousands to a street corner in this leafy Dutch town Thursday to greet their popular monarch, many of them wearing the bright orange national colors and funny orange wigs.

As Queen Beatrix and her family passed by in an open bus, a black car suddenly burst through police barriers, catapulting spectators into the air before it slammed into a stone monument.

Five people were killed and 13 wounded as the queen and her family looked on in disbelief. The speeding car passed within a few yards of their bus, but none of the royals were hurt.

Officials called it a deliberate attack on the House of Orange, the monarchy that has symbolically ruled Holland since 1815 and is widely respected if not revered.

“I think that it has become clear that this happened with premeditation,” Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said.

Neither he nor law enforcement agencies would give a motive. But Dutch media, citing neighbors, said the assailant was recently fired from his job and was to be evicted from his home. Police identified him as a 38-year-old Dutch man with no history of mental illness or police record but would not release his name.

“The man said that his action was aimed at the royal family,” said prosecutor Ludo Goossens. Officials in Apeldoorn said the suspect had a map of the queen’s route.

Shortly before the attack, the queen, her son Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his popular Argentine-born wife, Princess Maxima, had walked up to the crowd behind police barricades, accepting flowers and shaking hands.

Celebrations were canceled for Queen’s Day, a national holiday that draws millions of people to parades, street dances, picnics and outdoor parties around the country. Flags were lowered to half-staff.

A shaken Queen Beatrix extended her sympathies to the victims in a brief nationally televised address. “What began as a great day has ended in a terrible tragedy that has shocked us all deeply,” she said.

The driver apparently acted alone and was not linked to any terrorist or ideological group, authorities said. No explosives were found in his car or in his home.

“From initial contact with police before the suspect was removed from the car ... we have reason to believe it was a deliberate action,” Goossens told reporters.