Several injured at barbecue in De Wilp
A flare-up broke out at a neighbourhood barbecue in the Groningen village of De Wilp on Saturday evening; police are investigating the cause.
Several people were injured by a sudden flare-up at a neighbourhood barbecue in De Wilp on Saturday evening. According to local reports, two people were taken to hospital; the precise circumstances have not yet been established.
The incident took place on Saturday evening in De Wilp, a village in the municipality of Westerkwartier. A flare-up struck several people attending the barbecue. Local reports refer to several injured people, but no public statement from the police or hospital has yet been found confirming the total number.
According to bystanders cited by ANP, eight people suffered burns and two of them were taken to hospital. A local emergency-services website likewise reports that two people were taken to Martini Hospital in Groningen. The severity of their injuries has not been independently confirmed.
The cause of the flare-up is unclear. Bystanders said that something may have been thrown onto the fire, but this is not an established conclusion. Police are said to have seized a jerry can and designated the area as a crime scene for investigation.
Several ambulances and police units were involved in the emergency response. According to local reports, a mobile medical team was also deployed by helicopter. It is not known whether anyone has been arrested or whether police are investigating a specific suspicion.
The information currently available comes mainly from local reports and statements by bystanders. It therefore cannot yet be reliably established what exactly happened on the fire, how many people required medical treatment, or whether this was an accident or deliberate act.
Police are expected to provide more clarity once the initial investigative steps have been completed. Until then, both the cause and the injured people’s current condition remain uncertain.
Fact-check Approved with corrections · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The incident and emergency response are described by two public local sources, but the sources are partly based on bystanders. Unofficial details have been toned down and identified as provisional or unconfirmed.
- confirmed A flare-up broke out at a neighbourhood barbecue in De Wilp on Saturday evening. — Reported by ANP and 112Marum. source
- confirmed Several people were injured. — Both public sources report several injured people. source
- uncertain Two people were taken to hospital. — This comes from local reports and has not been confirmed by a hospital or emergency service. source
- uncertain The cause may have been something thrown onto the fire. — Attributed only to bystanders; the police investigation is ongoing. source
- uncertain Police seized a jerry can. — Reported by 112Marum, without any police confirmation having been found. source
1 correction(s) applied
- Was: Eight people suffered burns and two were seriously injured.Now: According to local reports, several people suffered injuries and two people were taken to hospital. (The available sources are not official and do not independently establish the number or severity.)
Editor's note
No public statement from the police, fire service or hospital has yet been found. The number of injured people, the severity of the injuries and the cause have therefore been presented cautiously and explicitly as provisional local reporting.Sources
- Meerdere gewonden door steekvlam bij buurtbarbecue De Wilp — ANP via Welingelichte Kringen
- Meerdere gewonden door steekvlam tijdens buurtbarbecue in De Wilp — 112Marum
More on this in Dutch media
- Het Parool — „de wilp”
- Trouw — „de wilp”
- NRC — „de wilp”