One dead in possible terror attack on Dutch tram
published : 18 Mar 2019 at 21:15
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: AFP
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: A body covered in a sheet was reportedly seen on the tracks as armed police and emergency services gathered at the scene in one of the largest cities in the Netherlands.
Police said the attacker was still on the run after the incident.
"A shooting occurred on the 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht... Multiple people have been injured. The surrounding area has been cordoned off and we are investigating the matter," Utrecht police said on Twitter.
"It is a shooting incident in a tram. Several trauma helicopters have been deployed to provide help."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte cancelled a meeting and was being briefed on the situation, officials said.
Police later said that "a possible terrorist motive is part of the investigation".
The head of the Dutch national counter-terrorism service, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, said on Twitter that he was having "crisis consultations" over the incident.
(Reuters video)
"NCTV is monitoring the situation in #Utrecht. In close contact with local authorities. We cannot rule out terrorist motive. Crisis team is activated," he said.
"Offender still fugitive," Aalbersberg said, adding that the terror threat level had been raised to the maximum of five in Utrecht for the next 18 hours.
Learn from listening
Vocabulary
- consultation: the act of discussing something with somebody or with a group of people before making a decision about it - การปรึกษาหารือ
- cordoned off: stopped from entering an area by putting something such as a rope around it - กั้นด้วยเชือกหรือเครื่องกั้น
- crisis: a situation that has reached and extremely difficult or dangerous point - ช่วงวิกฤต
- fugitive: someone who has done something illegal and is trying to avoid being caught by the police - ผู้หลบหนี
- motive: a reason for doing something - แรงจูงใจ
- offender: a person who is guilty of a crime - ผู้กระทำความผิด
- on the run: running away from something , such as the police -
- tram: a long narrow vehicle that travels along metal tracks in the middle of a street and is used as public transport in some places - รถราง
- trauma: a serious injury - การบาดเจ็บรุนแรง
