Firework accidents kill two in Netherlands as fire ravages Amsterdam church 

‌Two people have died in the Netherlands in fireworks ‍accidents, and there ‍were scattered instances of violence as the country celebrated the New Year. In a separate incident, a fire largely destroyed a 19th-century church in Amsterdam.

The blaze broke out in the early hours of Thursday at the Neo-Gothic Vondelkerk, a tourist attraction that has overlooked the capital city’s central Vondelpark since 1872.

The 50-metre-high (164-foot) tower collapsed, and the roof was badly damaged, but the structure was expected to remain intact, Amsterdam authorities said.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear. Emergency services had brought the fire under control by the morning.

There were no injuries in the fire at the church.

A large number of flats in the vicinity were evacuated, and about 90 households were temporarily without power.

Strong winds fanned the flames and caused sparks to fly.

“It is a very intense and terrible fire in this monumental church,” said Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, Dutch media reported. “Our first concern and priority now is the wellbeing and homes of the immediate residents.”

The Vondel Church was used as a Roman Catholic church until 1977. Most recently, it was used for other purposes and special occasions such as concerts. In 1904, a fire destroyed the church’s original tower.

Separately, the head of the Dutch Police Union, Nine Kooiman, reported an “unprecedented amount of violence against police and emergency services” across the country over New Year’s Eve, when some 250 people were arrested, and in several towns riot police were deployed.

Kooiman said she had been pelted three times by fireworks and other explosives as she worked a shift in Amsterdam.

In the southern city of Breda, people threw petrol bombs at police.

Separate fireworks accidents killed a 38-year-old man in Aalsmeer, close to Amsterdam, and a 17-year-old boy from Nijmegen, a town in the east of the country, police said. Three others were seriously injured.

The eye hospital in Rotterdam said it had treated 14 patients, including 10 minors, for eye injuries. Two underwent surgery.

New Year’s Eve 2025 marked the last year before a nationwide ban on the sale of fireworks to consumers will come into effect.

According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, revellers splashed out a record 129 million euros ($151m) on fireworks.

Some areas had been designated firework-free zones, but this appeared to have little effect.

A journalist with the AFP news agency in such a zone in The Hague reported loud bangs until about 3am.

Similar scenes of violence were reported in other European countries.

In Belgium, for instance, police made scores of arrests as officers in Brussels and Antwerp were targeted with fireworks, with a New Year’s ban on their use failing to prevent chaotic scenes in both cities.

Police used tear gas and arrested more than 100 people in the port city of Antwerp, where minors as young as 10 and 11 targeted officers and emergency services with fireworks and stones, setting fire to bikes, cars and rubbish bins, a spokesperson told AFP.

Authorities confiscated a number of “very dangerous” professional-grade fireworks, the spokesperson said.

Likewise, in the Belgian capital, Brussels, police said they were “repeatedly” targeted with fireworks, making some 70 arrests overnight.