Interviewer throws bottle at disabled boat party

A Dutch television journalist has come under fire after launching a beer bottle four storeys onto a boat carrying disabled passengers below.

The incident, which occurred during an interview between The World Keeps Turning presenter Erik Dijkstra and Rammstein singer Till Lindemann, was widely criticised on social media after going to air on Friday.

In the segment broadcast on Netherlands 1, Lindemann asks if he can throw his aluminium bottle from the fourth storey balcony of the Hotel de l'Europe room in Amsterdam where the interview is being held.

An eager-to-please Dijkstra replies, "Yeah, that's fine by me, shall we do that? What do you think?"

But before Lindemann can reply, the journalist flings his own bottle over the edge and the pair laugh as it hits the vessel, narrowly missing a group of seated passengers.

Old van Rooij, director of the Sunflower Foundation which uses the boat as part of its planned activities for people with disabilities, slammed Dijkstra's actions as "completely crazy" on Twitter.

He said it was bad enough that the incident happened in the first place but that it was broadcast on national television was "incomprehensible", the Parool reported.

Dijkstra extended an apology to the foundation, saying he was only trying to be "funny" and did not think at the time that someone could be hurt as a result.

"Yesterday I saw [the segment] again, I thought, this is not funny," he said.

"The director of Sunflower Foundation suggested that I would walk along, to make it a good bit and see what kind of work they do. I said I would. Really like one or two days."

Local police are believed to be investigating the matter, but it is not known if Dijkstra will face charges.

Source: NOS OP3
Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Jack Hawke