Dutch cafe had been warned on safety

VOLENDAM, Netherlands -- The Dutch cafe in which 10 young people died in a New Year blaze had been warned months earlier of potentially "life-threatening" safety violations, the local council has said.

A three-page warning letter was sent to cafe owner Jan Veerman in May last year, demanding he improve safety standards, council spokeswoman Linda van Essen said.

But the key improvements had not been made, the council says, and now the public prosecutor's office adds it plans a criminal investigation focusing on the owner of the Het Hemeltje (Little Heaven) cafe in the fishing village of Volendam.

The announcement, made on Saturday, comes after four more victims, all in their teens or early 20s, were buried. Four funerals had taken place on Friday.

Dutch television showed bouquets of flowers piled in front of the shuttered cafe as residents paid their respects to the victims.

The council's letter sent in May had detailed violations at the Little Heaven, where the disaster occurred, and two other cafes housed in the traditional timbered building.

Another letter was dispatched in July, giving the owner until October to comply with the regulations.

Among other things, the letters demanded that emergency exits be improved, fire extinguishing units be installed and six staff members be trained in fire safety methods.

"On the basis of the aspects described above, it can be concluded that in case of an incident, a life-threatening situation could arise," the council letter said.

Veerman made small improvements, but delayed work on the key safety issues, officials said.

No charges have so far been laid against Veerman, but prosecutors said he and his daughter are the two main suspects in their planned criminal investigation.

"Given the facts that have emerged up to now, the public prosecutor has reason to suspect that the owner as well as his 24-year-old daughter are possibly guilty of causing a fire," the prosecutors' office in Haarlem said in a statement.

"The public prosecutor concludes that the owner of the enterprise...up to and including the day of the catastrophic fire, hardly made a start in actually executing the (safety) points," the prosecutor's statement added.

In addition to the deaths, more than 180 people were hurt when the cafe, packed with revellers, went up in flames just half-an-hour into 2001 in the picturesque tourist town of Volendam, 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of Amsterdam.

The fire raced quickly through the seaside cafe, creating a mass panic, but the lone emergency exit working properly led to a rooftop with no ladder or stairway down, fire officials said.

The inferno was triggered when partygoers lit sparklers, igniting ceiling decorations that had not been sprayed with flame-retardant materials.

Owner Jan Veerman could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Volendam, Netherlands

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