EUROPE: Two dead and church gutted by fire in ‘unprecedented’ New Year’s violence in the Netherlands.

In the southeastern city of Nijmegen, a 17-year-old was killed in an incident involving fireworks shortly after midnight but police have given no further details.

And in the town of Aalsmeer south of the capital Amsterdam, a 38-year-old was killed in another incident involving fireworks which is still being investigated.

Nine Kooiman, the head of the Dutch Police Union, reported an “unprecedented amount of violence against police and emergency services” across the country on New Year’s Eve.
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Meanwhile, a massive inferno gutted a 19th-century church in Amsterdam. The blaze broke out in the early hours of Thursday at the Vondelkerk, a tourist attraction overlooking one of the city’s top parks since 1872.

The 50-metre-high tower collapsed,and the roof was severely damaged, but the structure was expected to remain intact, Amsterdam authorities said.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately apparent.

Developing…