Dutch Hell's Angels Found Shot Dead in Stream

Dutch police have launched a murder investigation after discovering the bullet-riddled bodies of three Hell's Angels in a stream in the southern Netherlands.

The bodies of the members of the Nomads Hell's Angels club in Oirsbeek, near Maastricht, were retrieved from a stream at Echt in Limburg province on Friday after they went missing from their clubhouse on Wednesday.

All three had been shot several times, police said.

One of the victims, named yesterday as Poul de Vries, 54, was president of the Nomads, one of several Dutch clubs. Another victim, in his 30s, was planning to marry De Vries's daughter.

The bikers are to be buried on Wednesday in the southern city of Sittard, with Hell's Angels from across Europe expected to attend.

The Nomads website was offline yesterday, but dozens of messages of condolence have been submitted to the websites of other Dutch Hell's Angels clubs.

Limburg police said there was no indication that they had died as a result of gang warfare, but admitted that a motive had not been identified. No revenge actions were expected and police have not increased surveillance of the Hell's Angels group. Despite this, German police are monitoring two clubhouses in Viersen and Willich, according to the ANP news agency.

It is not the first time Hell's Angels have died violently in the Netherlands. A well-known member of the club, Sam Klepper, was gunned down in 2000 in a killing which triggered violence between rival gangs.

Several Hell's Angels were also shot dead in a brothel just outside Amsterdam and others arrested for firearms offences.

The Hell's Angels, also popular in Germany and Scandinavia, were founded in the US in 1948. Members ride powerful motorcycles and sport a skull logo on their leather jackets. The organisation has an estimated 2,500 members around the world.

Its main Dutch branch in Amsterdam refused to comment yesterday, and the Nomads' clubhouse in Oirsbeek was reported to be surrounded by men armed with clubs and bats.