Udec Corporation

Historical Moment: The 2005 Dutch airport Jail Fire

A fire in a prison complex at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport broke out on Oct 27, 2005 shortly after midnight, started by a discarded cigarette. The fire raged for 3 hours, killing 11 prisoners and injured 15 more, including 4 firemen and policeman.

An unidentified detainee reported that initially the guards did not take the prisoners’ warnings of a fire seriously and told them nothing was wrong. They didn’t open the door,” he said, “They kept us locked up. Our throats started hurting. We were kicking and screaming.”

Approximately 350 prisoners were being held in the complex at Europe’s fourth largest airport when the fire broke out. Some 43 were in the wing that caught fire. Police searched for an unreported number of escaped prisoners. Helicopters were called in to assist during the fire to track down possible escaped detainees.

Nine men and two women from Ukraine, Turkey, Suriname, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Libya, Georgia, and Romania, died trapped in their cells.

The Dutch Justice Minister and the Housing Minister resigned following fierce criticism of their ministries. A report concluded that the fire would have caused fewer or no casualties at all had the government observed fire safety regulations.

Hundreds of cocaine smugglers, mostly from the Caribbean and Curacao, are detained at the airport every year, as are immigrants caught trying to enter the country illegally. Prison cell capacity was greatly expanded in 2002.

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