A fire killed 11 people and injured 15 at a detention center at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport housing suspected drugs traffickers and illegal immigrants early on Thursday, Dutch police said.
Jan Beekman, a senior military policeman, told a news conference four of the 15 injured were still in hospital, while the others had been discharged after treatment.
Michel Bezuijen, vice mayor of the nearby town of Haarlem, said three detainees had tried to escape during the fire, but had been captured again.
An airport spokeswoman said the fire, which began shortly after midnight and took several hours to bring under control, had had no impact on flights.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
A Justice Ministry spokesman said police were investigating allegations by the detainees that guards had initially not taken reports of a fire seriously, causing panic among the prisoners.
The detention complex mainly houses suspected drug traffickers, police said, but it is also used to hold illegal immigrants before expulsion. About 300 people were being detained in the complex at the time of the fire.
Police said all the dead were detainees, but could not yet give details of their nationalities.
