De Punt is a village in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Drenthe

Drenthe

Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...

. It is a part of the municipality of Tynaarlo

Tynaarlo

Tynaarlo is a municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. Though located in the province of Drenthe, many of its communities serve as suburbs of the neighbouring city of Groningen, capital of the province of the same name.- Population centres :...

, and lies about 11 km south of Groningen.

The statistical area "De Punt", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 240.

De Punt was the site for the 1977 Dutch train hostage crisis

1977 Dutch train hostage crisis

On May 23, 1977 a train hijacking took place close to Drentsche Aa river bridge at de Punt on the provincial border between Groningen and Drenthe, northeastern Netherlands. Nine armed Moluccans pulled the emergency brake around 9 AM and took about 50 people as hostages...

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In 2008, De Punt reached national news headlines as the site of a fire

De Punt Fire

On May 9 2008, three Dutch firefighters lost their lives tackling a blaze at a large commercial building situated in a shipyard in the village of De Punt in the Dutch province of Drenthe. The firefighters, Anne Kregel, Raymond Soyer and Egbert Ubels entered the building not knowing that a layer of...

 in a shipyard

Shipyard

Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...

, where three firemen, aged 29 (Raymond Patrick Soyer), 38 (Egbert Ubels) and 48 (Anne Kregel), died. They are commemorated by the asteroid 12156 Ubels

12156 Ubels

12156 Ubels is a main-belt minor planet. It was discovered by Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, and Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on September 29, 1973. It is named after Egbert Ubels, a deceased fireman.-External links:*...

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