Thousands of angry Dutch locals are planning to pelt Jeff Bezos' superyacht with eggs if the city of Rotterdam goes ahead with its plans of dismantling a historic bridge to allow the $485 million vessel to pass. The Dutch port city of Rotterdam confirmed last week that it would temporarily dismantle the 140-year-old bridge to allow a superyacht built for the Amazon founder to pass.
The local council has reportedly been asked to dismantle the central section of the bridge - a project for which Mr Bezos will foot the bill. "It's the only route to the sea," a spokesman for the mayor of Rotterdam told AFP.
According to a report by news agency AFP, the superyacht, which is being built in the Netherlands, is too big for the iconic Koningshaven Bridge. The bridge dated back to 1878 and was rebuilt after being bombed by the Nazis in 1940 during World War II - but plans to dismantle it have angered a section of the population as the local council promised after a major renovation in 2017 that it would never again dismantle the bridge.
As Rotterdam residents took to social media to express their disappointment with the city's decision, Pablo Strormann, 40, created a Facebook event inviting people to egg the superyacht.
Mr Strormann admitted to Dutch news outlet BN DeStem that his protest is "not too serious", but almost 4,000 people have already said they will attend. Another 13,600 people have indicated they are "interested" in the event.
"I'm a Rotterdammer and I think people with a lot of money should realise that they can't get everything," Mr Strormann told BN DeStem. "With this call [to egg the superyacht] we make our voice heard in a playful way," he added.
The steel-girdered bridge, known to locals as "De Hef", stands 150-feet tall. In order for Mr Bezos' three-masted yacht to pass, the centre part of the bridge will have to be removed.
"I think it's a bit of a shame to dismantle the whole bridge just for some person's private property to pass through it," said "Ice", a 34-year-old web developer, to AFP.
Despite earlier confirmation from officials, Rotterdam's mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said a decision had not yet been made to remove the middle section of the bridge to give enough clearance for the yacht to pass.
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