AUTHORITIES MADE MISTAKES OVER SCHIPHOL FIRE

The death toll from a fire at a detention centre at Amsterdam Schiphol airport last year was so high because of mistakes by the ministries of justice and public housing. That's the severe conclusion of a leaked draft report by the Dutch Investigations Board for Security which carries out independent inquiries into the causes and consequences of disasters and accidents. During the fire at the detention centre last October, eleven jailed people without a residence permit, burned alive.

In August the Dutch Investigations Board for Security asked the involved Ministers for their comments on the temporary results before the definitive report will be laid down. The conclusions: The ministries didn't stick to the rules over the building of the detention centre. So the distance from the cells to the exit were too great and cells were not fire resistant enough. Also there were no security staff on duty that night. Guards from a nearby detention centre who came to help made the mistake of leaving the door open of the cell where the fire had started.

Today it came out that the Cabinet rejects the conclusions of the report, and states that the involved authorities have not been negligent after looking at the instructions and available knowledge at the time. The Cabinet disputes the conclusion that the detention centre was not fireproof. The members of government indicated that the criminal investigation is still ongoing, so that it is a bit early for harsh conclusions.

At the end of 2002 the building began to be utilised as a detention centre. In the network of cells, illegal immigrants who were on the brink of being ejected from the country were housed - along with drug couriers. Immigration and Integration Immediately after the destructive blaze the Minister of Immigration Rita Verdonk stated that her personnel could not be blamed for the disaster and that they had dealt with it 'very adequately', during and after the fire.

A personal injury lawyer is representing around 30 victims in a lawsuit to show that the authorities can be held liable. He is not surprised by the report because he was already aware of a number of matters but he is still very disappointed in the official bodies. "Eleven people have died. That's happened because the government hasn't got its affairs in order and people didn't take responsibility."

The personal injury lawyer sees similarities with the firework tragedy in Enschede six years ago. Explosions in a firework factory destroyed a whole residential area, killing 23 people. A commission concluded that the authorities. had also been found wanting in that case. The ministries are not alone in this, according to the lawyer. There are all kinds of official bodies who fell over each other in doing nothing. A thick report has been written in which it was argued in favour of a cultural change within the governing bodies. The personal injury lawyer had expected that something would come out of this report, but that is not the case. more features

September 8 , 2006