Car catches fire in central Amsterdam following explosion, police says

A car caught fire on Dam Square in central Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon following an explosion in the vehicle, Amsterdam police said.

Police said the driver of the car was suspected of having caused the fire and had possibly done so on purpose, but they are keeping "all scenarios open," according to local Dutch news.

The driver was taken to the hospital in serious condition after attempting to blow himself up near the National Monument.

According to De Telegraph, a webcam footage showed several people walking around the vehicle. Other footage show the driver being sprayed down by foam by the Dutch fire brigade.

BREAKING:Video of the moment the failed car bomb exploded at the main square in Amsterdam, Netherlands.A car is on fire after a small explosion. The police believe it’s a deliberate attack.It’s the same location where 5 people were stabbed a few days ago. pic.twitter.com/6xmudcjXE4

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 3, 2025

Witnesses of the explosion

A witness of the explosion, an employee of Peek&Cloppenburg, a shop right on the Dam, spoke with De Telegraph and said she suspects it was a suicide, and explained that the driver drove into the square and turned onto the monument. "He then got out of the car, he was already on fire," she said. "He had done this to himself. You don't get such a big fire from a cigarette falling into the car. It was really very intense to see."

"It sounded like an explosion," another witness told De Telegraph. "Everyone started running, including me."

"We were only three meters away from being hit," Willem, a witness who was walking across the Dam Square at the time of the explosion, said. "I literally said that it was so bizarre that we didn't hear about the stabbing last week."

A 30-year-old Ukrainian citizen stabbed five people around Sint Nicolaasstraat in Dam Square a week ago. He is suspected of five attempted murders or manslaughter with terrorism motives.

He said that he then heard a huge bang coming from behind him. "The glass flew into our necks."

From that, he turned around and saw that the car was engulfed in flames. "The man was still inside it," he said. "It was quite unrealistic, because he was on fire. He was in that burning car and climbed out himself and started walking around like crazy."