According to emergency services, a water taxi and a ferry collided early Friday on the Wadden Sea near the northwestern Dutch island of Terschelling, killing two and leaving two people missing.
According to authorities, the ferry carried 27 passengers and crew, while the smaller water taxi was carrying eight people and was thrown into the water due to the collision. The passengers on the ferry were transferred to the mainland port of Harlingen, which is located 115 kilometres (71 miles) north of Amsterdam.
“Everyone is looking for the missing people,” Friesland Security Region spokesman Jan Willem Zwart said over the phone.
According to Zwart, the collision occurred around 7:15 a.m. (05:15 GMT) and injured four other people.
It was unclear why the two vessels collided at first. According to Zwart, police detained both captains as part of their investigation, which is standard procedure in such cases.
