In the morning of March 13, 1978, at 9:45AM three South-Moluccans seized the province hall in Assen, Netherlands. Some of the people inside escaped by jumping out of the window, including the Queen's Commissioner of the Drenthe province. 15 women and 55 men were taken hostage.
The attackers demanded the release of 21 prisoners who were involved in earlier hijackings, and free transport to Schiphol airport and out of the country. An ultimatum was set for March 14 at 14:00.
After a few hours, hostage Ko de Groot was executed in front of a window and thrown out, to prove the gunmen were serious. A photographer was wounded and an ambulance trying to get to the body of Ko de Groot was shot at.
During the night the marines of the Bijzondere Bijstands Eenheid (BBE) forced their way into the basement. The next day, March 14, at 14:34 they raided the building from outside and from the basement. It was just after the attackers decided to shoot two of the politicians and then planned to shoot one hostage each 30 minutes.
During the raid one hostage was wounded and later died.