APELDOORN, Netherlands, April 30 (UPI) -- A speeding car hurtled toward an open top bus carrying Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands Thursday before smashing into parade spectators, police said.
Four bystanders were reported killed and 13 were injured, including the driver of the car that slammed into a crowd watching the Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn. The queen and her party had passed the spot a short time earlier and were hurried out of the area by security personnel. The queen later sent a sympathy note to the victims and appeared on television.
"What started as a beautiful day has ended in terrible drama, which has shocked us deeply," she said.
No members of the royal family were injured, the report said.
The driver of the car, identified only as a 38-year-old Dutchman, was arrested on suspicion of carrying out an attack on the royal family, The Times of London reported.
Ludo Goossens of the Dutch prosecutor's office said there did not appear to be any link to terrorism or indications of explosions in the car, but he said investigators "have reason to believe that this was a deliberate act," which he said was "based on initial contact with the suspect before he was freed from the car."
Footage of the incident showed a damaged vehicle driven at high speed after crashing into the crowd and coming to a stop after hitting a monument in the middle of town.
People were seen flying through the air as the car swerved across police railings where hundreds of people had lined up to see the queen. The mayor announced a short time later that the remainder of the festival, an annual event, had been canceled.
