AMSTERDAM — A massive fire gutted one of Amsterdam’s best-known 19th-century churches during a New Year’s Eve marked by two fireworks deaths and what the Dutch police union called “unprecedented” violence against officers and emergency crews nationwide.
The blaze broke out in the early hours at the Vondelkerk, a neo-Gothic landmark that has stood beside the city’s Vondelpark since 1872 and is a frequent stop for tourists. Amsterdam officials said the church’s 50-meter (164-foot) tower collapsed and the roof was badly damaged, but the main structure was expected to remain intact. The cause of the fire was not immediately disclosed.
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Authorities struggled to contain disorder across the Netherlands as revelers ushered in the new year with record levels of fireworks. Nine Kooiman, head of the Dutch Police Union, said officers faced an “unprecedented amount of violence against police and emergency services,” citing numerous attacks on first responders amid widespread unrest.
Shortly after midnight, the government issued a rare nationwide mobile alert urging people not to call overwhelmed emergency lines unless lives were at immediate risk. Police and firefighters reported being pelted and obstructed in multiple cities. In the southern city of Breda, people threw petrol bombs at police, officials said.
Two people — a 17-year-old boy and a 38-year-old man — were killed in separate fireworks accidents. Three others were seriously injured. The Rotterdam eye hospital said it treated 14 patients for eye injuries, including 10 minors, and performed surgery on two of them.
Police also intervened to quell unrest in Amsterdam’s central Dam Square as crowds swelled and pyrotechnics detonated around the city. By early morning, firefighters continued to secure the Vondelkerk site as debris smoldered around the collapsed spire and emergency tape cordoned off nearby streets.
This New Year’s Eve was widely seen as the last before an expected national ban on unofficial consumer fireworks, a policy that has gained momentum following annual injuries and clashes but has yet to take full effect. Even as some municipalities designated firework-free zones, the restrictions appeared to have little impact.
According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, consumers spent a record €129 million on fireworks this season, underscoring the challenge of curbing a tradition that spikes each December despite mounting safety and public order concerns.
Amsterdam city officials did not immediately provide an estimate of the damage to the Vondelkerk or a timeline for assessing the building’s stability. The church’s prominent tower, visible from Vondelpark, had been a defining feature of the skyline in the neighborhood since the late 19th century. Images from the scene showed flames and smoke billowing through the roof before the spire gave way.
Emergency services said they would release more information as investigations into the fire and the night’s wider disturbances progress. Authorities urged the public to avoid the area around the church and to adhere to police instructions while structural assessments and cleanup continue.
The deaths, injuries and widespread confrontations are likely to renew debate over fireworks regulation in the Netherlands, which has tightened rules in recent years but continues to allow sales and private use of many products during the holiday period. Police unions and medical associations have repeatedly called for stricter measures, citing annual spikes in assaults on responders and emergency department admissions.
As daylight revealed the charred remains of the Vondelkerk’s tower, investigators prepared to enter the site once temperatures fell and the structure was declared safe. For many residents, the destruction of a storied church became a stark emblem of a New Year’s celebration that spiraled into violence and left a historic landmark in ruins.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
