Driver who tried to kill Dutch queen dies

In a sombre televised address on Thursday, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands told the Dutch people that she was "speechless that something so terrible could have happened" following the deaths of five people at a royal parade in the city of Aleldoorn.

Queen Beatrix and other members of the Dutch royal family were travelling through the city on an open-topped bus for the Queen's Day parade, held every April 30 to commemorate the previous queen's birthday, when a man driving a black Suzuki hatch-back ploughed through the crowd and crashed into a monument.

The 38-year-old driver, named as Karst Tates, died on Friday morning from his injuries. Before he died he admitted to police that he had been targeting the royal family.

He is reported to have lost his job as a security guard some weeks ago, and been forced to leave his home in the Gelderland village of Huissen as a result.

Some media reports say Tates's car had been stopped and turned back earlier in the day by police. It was unclear how he was able to break through police lines and get so close to the royal party.

Those onlookers who died were two men and two women flung into the air as the car careened through the crowd, and a fifth person who died later in hospital. A further 12 people were injured. ·