The police in The Hague mentioned on Tuesday that that they had arrested three folks in reference to an explosion at an condo constructing within the Dutch metropolis over the weekend that killed not less than six folks.
The explosion, which occurred at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, brought on a hearth and the partial collapse of a three-story block of residences, based on fireplace officers. Four folks with accidents had been taken to a hospital. One individual was handled on web site.
Jan van Zanen, the mayor of The Hague, known as it “an unprecedented catastrophe” in public remarks.
Rescue staff pulled a sixth physique from the rubble within the early hours of Monday morning, and have since ended their search, fireplace officers in The Hague mentioned.
Much concerning the explosion continues to be unknown. Officials have confiscated a number of automobiles, however they have no idea what brought on the blast or who was behind it.
The blast broken 19 condo duplexes, together with 5 that had been rendered utterly uninhabitable, based on the hearth officers.
The three folks in custody usually are not allowed to have contact with the surface world, aside from with their lawyer, the police mentioned in an announcement, including that extra arrests might comply with.
After the explosion on Saturday, the police had been searching for a automotive that was seen dashing from the scene. It was not clear if that car was among the many confiscated automobiles.
Smaller explosions close to properties or companies usually are not unusual in massive cities within the Netherlands, similar to Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. The police imagine that many such explosions are linked to drug trafficking or extortion.
Since 2021, the variety of explosions within the Netherlands has elevated considerably. There had been 1,017 explosions final yr, in comparison with a complete of simply 212 in 2021, based on police information. A overwhelming majority occurred in main cities.
But Saturday’s blast was of a special scale. The Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, visited the location over the weekend and mentioned he was in shock.
“This is past creativeness,” he advised reporters.
