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The Netherlands train hostage case
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 2 December in 1975 seven South Moluccans seized a train with about 50 passengers on board in open countryside near the village of Wijster, halfway between Groningen and Beilen in the northern part of the Netherlands.
The Rotterdam-Groningen express was brought to an abrupt halt when the emergency cord was pulled near the village of Wijster. Five heavily armed men took control of the train. All children and most of the elderly passengers were released. They then separated the remaining women and men by placing them in different compartments. The hijackers killed three men (Engineer Hans Braam, Private Leo Bulter and Bert Bierling) and took about 64 hostages. Twenty-six of the original 64 hostages either escaped or were released, leaving a total of 38 hostages on the Beilen train. The terrorists demanded a bus to take them to Schiphol airport near Amsterdam, and a plane to fly them to an unknown destination. Later, in another note, they demanded the release of five Moluccans held in Dutch prisons on charges of terrorist actions, and Dutch recognition of what they called their "government in exile". An explosion aboard the hijacked train injured one of the attackers and slightly wounded a passenger being held hostage. The young Asian terrorists surrendered to police on December 14, releasing the remaining hostages after a 12-day siege of the train. They were subsequently tried and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
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