Dutch ministers resign over airport fire

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 resignations followed a damning report by a prestigious commission that concluded the deaths last year of illegal immigrants and suspected drug smugglers in their cells at the facility adjacent to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport could have been avoided had the facility been built and run according to regulations.