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| Flowers are displayed at 24 Oktoberplein, in Utrecht, on March 19, 2019, the day after three people were shot dead and several were injured, including one who later died, in a shooting on a tram (AFP Photo/Robin van Lonkhuijsen) |
The Hague (AFP) - The death toll from an alleged terror attack on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht rose to four on Thursday after an injured man died in hospital, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors
have already said that a Turkish-born man previously identified as Gokmen Tanis
has confessed to terrorist-related offences over the gun rampage.
"One
of the seriously injured victims of the fatal shooting in the tram on 24
Oktoberplein in Utrecht died today of his injuries. He was a 74-year-old
man," a prosecutors' statement said.
"This
means that the 37-year-old suspect of the fatal shooting on March 18 is now
suspected of four-fold murder or manslaughter with a terrorist objective, attempted
murder and a threat with a terrorist objective."
Another
seriously injured victim remains in hospital while a third injured person has
returned home, prosecutors added.
The
investigation continues and a court will decide at the end of next week on the
alleged gunman's further detention, the statement said.
Prosecutors
said on Friday that Tanis had confessed to terrorist charges over the rampage,
and said he acted alone. Several other people were arrested but released.
Dutch
authorities previously said they were probing whether Tanis "acted out of
a single terrorist motive or whether from personal problems in combination with
radicalised ideas."
Thousands
of Dutch mourners including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte took to Utrecht's
streets on Friday evening to pay their last respects to the victims of the
rampage.
Rutte
tweeted on Thursday about the "immensely sad news that one of the victims
of the attack in Utrecht died."
"We
all feel the same as last week: disbelief, impotence and also anger. Our hearts
go out to the relatives. I wish them much strength," Rutte said.
If the
suspect is eventually convicted of terrorism offences it will be the worst
terror attack in the Netherlands, which has until now been spared the kind of
large-scale attacks that have rocked its European neighbours.
However
there have been a series of recent scares. In August, a 19-year-old Afghan with
a German residency permit stabbed and injured two American tourists at
Amsterdam's Central Station before being shot and wounded.
In
September, Dutch investigators said they had arrested seven people and foiled a
"major attack" on civilians at a major event in the Netherlands.
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| Police photo of Gökmen Tanis, suspect in the shooting in Utrecht on March 17 2019. |
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