The Netherlands: Some 60 people injured in Amsterdam two-train crash of which 20 seriously

At least 60 people were injured, up to 20 of them seriously, in a two-train collision Saturday outside Amsterdam Central station, Dutch transport police said.

Train Crash Near Amsterdam

The accident happened at around 6.30 pm (1630 GMT) when a local train leaving Amsterdam smashed head-on into a high-speed train, Dutch rail network spokeswoman Babet Verstappen told AFP.

Emergency personel were treating the wounded at the scene, on a bridge between the suburb of Sloterdijk and Amsterdam Central Station, she added.

The crash has disrupted rail traffic to Amsterdam Central station, as well as to Schiphol airport, Verstappen said.
 

The Netherlands: Security Measures Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Inadequate - by Doreen Carvajal

A Dutch investigative journalist breached security checks at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, smuggling a refilled liquor bottle aboard passenger jets bound for London and Washington, prompting airport officials to impose new restrictive measures. Alberto Stegeman, a television reporter, has boasted of a history of exposing security flaws at Schiphol, where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded a flight to Detroit on Dec. 25, allegedly with explosives hidden in his underwear. This time airport security guards recognized him, Mr. Stegeman said, and ordered him to show them what he had filmed with his camera. But he said they overlooked his sealed bag with a Bacardi bottle from a duty-free shop in the airport.

Mr. Stegeman, whose report was broadcast on Sunday, said he purchased a bottle of rum, emptied it and refilled it with water before returning it to the store. Then he returned to the same shop and “bought” the refilled bottle, which the shop sealed in a bag with a receipt, allowing him to take it through security checks and on to a plane that landed in London, where he transferred to a flight to Washington. “This was a real big security gap, and the system failed,” said Mr. Stegeman, who was recognized by security staff because of his previous stories where he had posed as a worker for three months and then passed through security unchecked.

“When they recognized me, they had a lot of extra security guards and asked a chief to come and look at me. Still, they didn’t look inside the bag. They looked at the bag, checked the flight number, but that was it,” Mr. Stegeman said.

For more: New Security Breach at Amsterdam Airport - NYTimes.com