THE NETHERLANDS – Ambulance services in the northeast of the Netherlands struggled to cope with the number of calls to ice-skating accidents on Saturday as 14 people received treatment or had to be taken to hospital.

In the province of Overijssel, extra ambulance teams were needed to deal with the number of incidents. In many places, ambulance teams had trouble reaching the injured people as they were blocked by cars parked alongside the frozen waterways.

Although ice-skating is an extremely popular and traditional leisure activity in the Netherlands, there have been few opportunities to skate on natural ice due to mild winters over the past few years.

In the wake of the recent freezing temperatures, many Dutch have seized the chance to go skating, even when warnings have been issued that ice conditions are unsafe for ice-skating.

[Radio Netherlands / Expatica]