A US airline flight to India returned to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport today, escorted by two Dutch F-16 jet fighters, after the crew reported some passengers were behaving suspiciously, authorities said.

A container ship with a toxic cargo is foundering in shallow waters off the south-west Dutch coast and is in danger of breaking in half if it is moved, the Dutch coastguard said today.

A freighter collided with another vessel in a busy shipping lane off the Dutch coast today and sank, a coast guard spokesman said.