Dutch suicide driver's motive still a mystery

The driver who tried to ram the Dutch royal family’s coach and ended up killing six bystanders had recently been fired and was about to lose his home, it emerged today.

Kast Tates, 38, died of his injuries in hospital today, leaving police still puzzled about why he carried out the attack during a parade in the town of Apeldoorn yesterday.

Ten other people were hurt when Tates rammed his small black car through police barricades toward an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and several other members of the royal family.

It then crashed at a speed into a stone war memorial, seriously injuring Tates.

He told one of the first police officers to rush to his car that the attack was aimed at the royal family.

But the motive was unclear.

“It is very difficult now that we no longer have the suspect to reconstruct what was behind this,” said Fred de Graaf, mayor of Apeldoorn.

“An element of uncertainty will remain because you can no longer question the suspect. So the last piece of the puzzle will remain in question,” he said.

Neighbours in Tates hometown of Huissen said he was recently fired from his job as a security guard and about to be evicted from his home because he could no longer afford the rent. Police said he had no history of mental illness or criminal record.

The neighbours described him as friendly, but a man who kept to himself.

Prosecutors said the suspect’s death ended the criminal investigation against him, but that they would continue to investigate whether he acted alone but there were no indications he had help.

Police who searched Tates’ house “found no weapons, explosives or indications of other suspects,” prosecutors said. No links with terrorism or ideological groups were immediately uncovered, they said.

The attack prompted officials to review security arrangements for the royal family’s public appearances, beginning with Memorial Day next Monday commemorating Dutch victims of the Second World War, followed on Tuesday by Liberation Day festivities.

The queen and her son Crown Prince Willem-Alexander seldom hesitate to approach crowds on holidays, especially on Queen’s Day, when the members of the House of Orange are the focus of attention.

Mr De Graaf defended security during yesterday’s parade. “You don’t assume somebody will drive straight through a crowd, straight through two barriers to do something like this. You don’t plan based on that kind of scenario,” he said.

Today people laid bouquets at the scene of the attack, lit candles in Apeldoorn’s church and signed a condolence register for the victims.

The failed attack on the immensely popular royal family was shown live on nationwide television during coverage of the queen’s bus trip to her palace Het Loo.