TWO Dutch ministers resigned yesterday after accepting blame for safety lapses in a fire that killed 11 illegal immigrants awaiting deportation in an airport jail last year.

Two months before Dutch elections, the conservative government suffered a setback today with the resignation of two ministers who accepted blame for safety faults in an airport jail that led to the deaths of 11 prisoners.

The Dutch ministers of justice and housing will resign after an investigation found they were partially to blame for a fire at a jail at Amsterdam’s airport that killed 11 illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, the state broadcaster reported today.