- Title: NETHERLANDS: PAINTBALLERS CAUSE SECURITY ALERT AT EURO 2000.
- Date: 24th June 2000
- Summary: ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (JUNE 24, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. EXTERIOR OF BIDERBERG PARK HOTEL 2. YUGOSLAV TEAM LUGGAGE UNLOADED 3. WIDE SHOT NEWS CONFERENCE 4. SOUNDBITE (SERBIAN) YUGOSLAV COACH VUJADIN BOSKOV SPEAKING, SAYING "WE CAME TO THE COUNTRY WHERE EVERYBODY IS VERY PEACEFUL AND WHICH IS VERY CIVILISED. I CAN'T ANSWER YOUR QUESTION BECAUSE WE DIDN'T SEE IT AND WE DIDNT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. WE HAVE BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY WELCOME BY ALL PEOPLE WHERE WE WERE." 6. PREDRAG MIJATOVIC, YUGOSLAV PLAYER 7. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) NIKOL MISIC, PRESS OFFICER FOR YUGOSLAV FOOTBALL FEDERATION, SAYING "THE SECURITY OF THE HOTEL TOLD US THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG NEAR THE HOTEL, THEY SAW A CAR WITH SOME PEOPLE WITH WEAPONS, THEY TOLD US THAT EVERYTHING IS OK. THE CAR WENT AWAY, THERE WERE SOME CHILDREN WITH ARTIFICIAL WEAPONS." 8. EXTERIOR OF HOTEL Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 9th July 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Reuters ID: LVA1M71Y18TVLE5D6MC1JSBBWEOT
- Story Text: Boys with paintball toy guns playing soldiers with
their father close to the Yugoslav soccer team's hotel in
Belgium caused a security alert late on Friday, police said on
Saturday.
Mistaken for gunmen by a passer-by, the group, the
youngest of which was 15, was eventually tracked down by
around 100 police on a strip of land close to the Yugoslavs'
hotel.
"Around midnight, police found the boys playing
soldiers..they had guns which looked like real guns but were,
in fact, toys," said a spokesman for the local police in
Edegem, south of Antwerp.
"The hotel had been totally secured and the team were
safely inside," he said.
The national gendarmerie said in a statement the family
often used the sandy area to stage warfare games.
The team coach, Vujadin Boskov, said his side was in a
peaceful country and had been welcome wherever they went, but
refused to comment on the incident because he had not seen it.
Team press officer Nikol Misic said they were alerted by
hotel security officials.
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