Second fatality in Enschede

Second fatality in Enschede

Published Jul. 8, 2011 9:15 p.m. ET

One person was killed and a number of others suffered serious injuries when the disaster happened on Thursday at De Grolsch Veste Stadium. A statement released by the Municipality of Enschede on Friday night confirmed the second fatality, a 24-year-old man from the city of Oldenzaal. "It is terrible that we again have to mourn a death," said mayor Peter den Oudsten. "Our thoughts are with his family and those close to him." Construction workers were trapped beneath the wreckage and, including the fatalities, a total of 16 people were eventually confirmed to have suffered injuries. Earlier on Friday, Twente chairman Joop Munsterman said the club's players, currently on a tour of New Zealand, are to return home. Munsterman, who left New Zealand - where the club were due to face the national side at the weekend - as soon as he had been informed of the incident, released a statement which read: "We wish everyone who is affected in any way a lot of strength and in particular we express our condolences to the families of the deceased. "It is therefore impossible for us to continue our training camp in New Zealand and we cannot play against New Zealand. "We did not want to remain such a distance from what happened today. The open day on July 17 will not occur and the other events in the stadium will not proceed until further notice." Ilse Hoekstra, a spokeswoman on the scene, told Press Association Sport that a representative from the Dutch public prosecution service had been sent to launch an investigation to determine the cause of the collapse. Pictures taken from outside the ground showed a large section of the roof had fallen onto a bank of seating already in place behind the goal in the southern end of the stadium. The work being carried out was part of a development to increase the capacity of the stadium to more than 30,000. The ground only held 13,500 when the 2010 Eredivisie champions moved there in 1998.

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