VOLENDAM, 03/01/01 - The New Year's Eve fire in a Volendam bar will probably lead to a higher death toll than the present figure of ten young people. At least 17 of the 184 injured are so badly burned that their situation was yesterday still critical.

The catastrophic fire probably started when a visitor set off fireworks near the bar in cafe 't Hemeltje. This set fire to the pine branches adorning the ceiling. Visitors then jostled past each other to reach the exit. At one emergency exit, there was no fire escape, so that fleeing guests fell a distance of several meters.

A total of about ninety people were still in hospital yesterday. About sixty of them were in intensive care or receiving artificial respiration. Thirty to forty people are suffering from less serious burns. All wounded are hospitalised in Beverwijk, Rotterdam, Groningen, Amsterdam, Leiden, Utrecht and a number of hospitals in Belgium and Germany.

Health Minister Els Borst visited several of the injured on Monday, and Queen Beatrix and Deputy Prime Minister Annemarie Jorritsma yesterday went to the Amsterdam University Hospital AMC, where they spoke to victims, their families and the doctors treating the victims. Ten of them are being treated in the AMC intensive care unit.

Home Affairs State Secretary Gijs de Vries has meanwhile instigated an enquiry into the background to the fire and how it was dealt with. Fire brigades, doctors and police have asked questions about this. Because the Netherlands is unable to cope with such a large number of burn patients, many casualties had to be taken to foreign countries.

It is unclear whether the fire brigades have enough time or personnel to inspect all bars and restaurants regularly. Labour (PvdA) MP Wagenaar appealed for an annual inspection of such establishments in future, and regular fire drills. But hotel and restaurant organization KHN strongly denied his suggestion that entertainment establishments are negligent about fire safety. The Netherlands has about 35,000 businesses where guests can eat and drink.