The Netherlands 20 missing after explosion in apartment building in The Hague
At least four people have been injured in a violent explosion and subsequent fire in a residential building in The Hague, the Netherlands. Around 20 people are also missing. According to the fire department, the three-storey building partially collapsed after the explosion at around 6.15 in the morning. Five apartments were destroyed.
07.12.2024, 14:43
SDA
The fire-fighting work lasted for hours and rescue workers continued to search for more victims in the rubble in the afternoon. Around 20 people were reported missing and were being searched for with sniffer dogs. The explosion also caused great devastation in the area surrounding the partially collapsed building. Adjacent apartments were also damaged and the street was littered with debris. The cause of the explosion was initially unclear.
Neighbor: It felt like an earthquake
Many residents were woken from their sleep by the violent explosion. "I looked across the street and saw a large plume of smoke," a neighbor told the Omroep West radio station. "There on the corner, two apartments are completely gone." And another neighbor said: "It felt like a small earthquake. I felt the whole apartment shake."
Meanwhile, the police searched for a car that drove away at high speed immediately after the explosion. Residents were asked to send possible video footage of the scene of the accident in which the car could be seen.
Repeated explosive attacks by criminals
In the Netherlands, there have been repeated explosives attacks by criminals for some time now. Houses, company buildings and cars are affected. The explosives or incendiary devices planted at night at house entrances, facades or stores cause damage to property, but as a rule nobody is injured. According to the police, the attacks involve drugs, intimidation and blackmail. Explosives are even used in relationship disputes.
Whether the explosion and subsequent fire in The Hague have a criminal background is still unclear. There are stores on the first floor of the affected building.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof expressed his shock at the catastrophe and offered the government's help to the victims. The royal family also reacted with concern.
Drug lab exploded recently
At the beginning of the year, there was an explosion in a residential complex in Rotterdam that left three people dead. It turned out that an illegal laboratory for the production of drugs had exploded in the building.
