Royalty in the News

Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde visited a day care center in Dendermonde today – but not just to make a personal appearance. They were there to meet with the police and medical personal involved in the stabbing attack at this day care center, that left three dead, and 12 wounded – ten of them children.

According to reports, a red haired man wearing black and white makeup went on a rampage at the Zonnebloem center. He killed two young children and a female worker.

“An act of great brutality has happened here against our weakest citizens,” said mayor Buyse Piet. “The whole city is united in support for the parents who are in deep grief.”

Prosecutor Christian Du Four said the attacker rode his bike up to the Fabeltjesland center about 10 a.m., entered and immediately began slashing a knife around. The dead included two children — ranging in age up to 3 — and a woman working in the center.

In the mayhem that ensued, the attacker simply walked out and got back on his bicycle before being arrested in a nearby supermarket shortly afterward, Du Four said.

Sobbing parents rushed to the scene and to nearby hospitals. Shocked rescue workers spoke of finding crying, bleeding toddlers scattered inside the center. Medical workers at six hospitals sprung into action, performing emergency operations to save the 10 children and two adults badly wounded in the attack.

The shocking assault caused panic and outrage in the town 20 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of Brussels, where the day care center sits on a residential street.

“(It’s) something you hear about from America, not here,” said bake shop owner Bie Hoornaert.

Philippe and Mathilde spoke to the police and rescuers at the center. The Crown Princess looked very distraught as she surveyed the scene.

The royal couple are parents to four children, some about the same age of the children at the day care center.

The two are planning to meet with the parents of the wounded and murdered children.

Already, the day care center has become a memorial site, with locals laying down flowers.

Residents told The Associated Press the suspect was a local man with a history of mental illness.

“People are totally in shock,” said Leene Du Bois, a spokeswoman for the regional government of Flanders. “Nobody would have imagined anyone could do so much harm. There is much grief.”