Six killed in Netherlands after truck crashes into neighbourhood party

Transport company says driver went off road after trying to avoid collision with van

Local residents at the scene in Nieuw-Beijerland, where a truck crashed into a group of people, killing six. Photograph: JEFFREY GROENEWEG/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
Local residents at the scene in Nieuw-Beijerland, where a truck crashed into a group of people, killing six. Photograph: JEFFREY GROENEWEG/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

Six people died in the Netherlands after a truck rolled into a neighbourhood party in the town of Nieuw Beijerland on Saturday evening.

Seven other people are in hospital with injuries, with one of them in critical condition, police said.

The incident happened around 6pm local time about 30km south of Rotterdam, when a heavy truck rolled off a dyke into a field where neighbours were holding a party.

It was still unclear what had caused the accident, police said.

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The driver of the truck, a man (46) from Spain, was detained.

Police said there were no signs of alcohol abuse by the driver, but provided no further details on the possible cause of the incident.

A spokesman for the man’s employer, Spanish transport company El Mosca, told Spanish newspaper La Verdad the driver went off the road running along the dyke as he tried to prevent a collision with a van.

Police did not confirm this report said they had questioned a driver of a white van as a witness. — Reuters