The big bonfire of Scheveningen went wrong this year

Every year, the National Heritage organisation presents Bonfire Scheveningen on New Year’s Eve on the Noorderstrand beach of
The Hague, Netherlands. It takes about five days to build the gigantic structure that will be ignited at midnight to celebrate the New Year.

Bonfire Scheveningen has grown from an old, local tradition into a grand annual event in the last few years. The event has gained popularity because of the unique combination of the usual New Year’s fireworks plus the impressive fire, which gives an unique feeling of Dutch tradition and celebration. Every year it attracts more and more visitors.

But this year everything went out of control due the heavy wind from the sea in the area. Ashes were falling across the city over the people and houses. Residents were forced to evacuate their homes.

This video shows ashes blowing from the bonfire towards the district of Scheveningen. Police evacuated citizens from dangerous zones. Some reported their hair and coats had caught fire.

According to AD.nl, roofs, gardens and people caught fire because of the sparks that have come down from the 48-meter-high pile of fire on the beach. The sparks were blown out by a rising wind from the sea. The municipality of The Hague is going to investigate thoroughly what exactly went wrong.