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BMW driver crashes into e-bike warehouse in the Netherlands, starting huge fire

Police suspect driver, who fled the scene, drove into the building on purpose

A BMW driver crashed into an e-bike warehouse in the Netherlands at the weekend, sparking a huge fire with damage likely to run into millions of euro. Reports in the Dutch press suggest that police believe the driver, who fled the scene, drove into the building on purpose.

The blaze broke out at around 4.20am on Sunday at the Ebike Development Centre belonging to Ebike Nederland in Cuijk in the province of North Brabant, a few kilometres south of Nijmegen, with the motorist crashing into the lobby of the building, reports Nieuwsfiets.nu.

Four fire appliances, including an aerial platform, attended, with firefighters having to demolish part of the building to get to the seat of the blaze. It is unclear at present whether the fire was ignited on purpose or whether it resulted from the car being driven into the building.

The damage to the interior of the building was described as “extensive,” although fortunately no e-bike batteries, which could have emitted noxious fumes had they been set alight, were stored in the part of the premises where the fire took hold.

Ebike Nederland director Arno Cup said that the damage “couldn’t have been worse,” with the company, which has a large part of its business in supplying the delivery market, very busy in recent months.

“Because of corona, everyone who can cook a hamburger is going to do home delivery, so the demand for our delivery bikes has been greater than ever,” he explained.

“There were also many bicycles ready, which were almost complete. If we had not had to wait for certain parts, they would already have been delivered.

“The damage is massive. Half [of the building] is still standing. The fire started at the back of the lobby and spread to the front. The production area has been completely destroyed and part of the warehouse as well.”

Cup said that the damage was likely to run into the millions, and that the company had complied with the conditions set down by its insurers.

He dismissed rumours linking the fire to a series of arson attacks in Cuijk in recent weeks, with one vehicle set on fire belonging to his partner in the business.

But, with the police treating the premises as a crime scene, he said: “The mayor spoke of an attack on the business community and the police also say it is a targeted act. You obviously do not accidentally drive into a building.”

He added that once power is restored to the building, “we can view the CCTV images and learn more. We can probably look back on that a lot.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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13 comments

Avatar
David9694 | 3 years ago
3 likes

You're all missing an important point: typical cyclist building, no high viz. 

Avatar
Bob F | 3 years ago
1 like

This headline could simply have been " Driver crashes into....". But no, Road CC has to perpetuate the Us vs Them culture.
I find the comments"BMW drivers - 'nuf said" just as irritating as the anti cyclist warriors. I still look at Road CC occasionally, but unbookmarked the site some time ago. Has great potential, but cultivating the outrage has gotten a bit old.

Avatar
Philh68 replied to Bob F | 3 years ago
5 likes

So you get annoyed because they report that the driver was in fact driving a BMW? And unlike most media reported that it was a driver that crashed into the building, where most would merely headline the article as "BMW crashes into building, sparking fire". Your outrage is simply because you choose to interpret it as perpetuating "us vs them". Well if you go looking for trouble and ascribe emotions to factual statements, that's what you'll get. Does that justify omitting facts when reporting, no it does not.

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eburtthebike replied to Bob F | 3 years ago
1 like

Socrapicyclist's cousin?

Avatar
Simon E replied to Bob F | 3 years ago
3 likes

Bob F wrote:

I find the comments"BMW drivers - 'nuf said" just as irritating as the anti cyclist warriors.

One key difference is that the BMW driver stereotype goes beyond road.cc and even the cycling community, it's a joke among drivers too.

Also, there are plenty of BMW, Merc and Audi drivers who are considerate and cautious, including a good number of cyclists, but it's hard to get past the frequent observation that a fair number of peope piloting these brands drive like dicks.

And let's not ignore that anti-cyclist rhetoric, most notably among newspaper columnists and so-called 'journalists, has resulted in many cyclists being the victim of punishment passes, verbal and physical aggression from drivers and even deliberately being rammed. If you think that the rolls-eyes BMW driver comments in this little corner of the cyclingverse are as damaging as that shit then I beg you to reconsider what you're saying.

Bob F wrote:

I still look at Road CC occasionally, but unbookmarked the site some time ago. Has great potential, but cultivating the outrage has gotten a bit old.

As a valued customer, I'm sure they will take your comments on board.

Avatar
Bmblbzzz | 3 years ago
4 likes

"You obviously do not accidentally drive into a building.”

Plenty of examples to disprove this, unfortunately.

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Hirsute replied to Bmblbzzz | 3 years ago
0 likes

Have to be a bit of a blow out though.

On the other hand...

https://road.cc/content/forum/car-crashes-building-please-post-your-loca...

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Philh68 replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
1 like

Would take a spectacular level of incompetence to crash into that building accidentally.

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Milkfloat | 3 years ago
3 likes

A hell of a SMIDSY. 

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
1 like

BMW driver; 'nuff said.

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Grahamd replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
0 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

BMW driver; 'nuff said.

Are continental BMW drivers the same as in the UK then?

Avatar
Sriracha replied to Grahamd | 3 years ago
3 likes
Grahamd wrote:

eburtthebike wrote:

BMW driver; 'nuff said.

Are continental BMW drivers the same as in the UK then?

Um, I couldn't say there's no indication of that.

Avatar
Dingaling replied to Grahamd | 3 years ago
1 like

Merc, BMW and Audi. All three brands do unfortunately appear to attract more than their fair share of arsehole drivers.

I couldn't begin to count how often I have seen two or three of these brands nose to tail in excess off 200kmh trying to get in front on the autobahn.

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