ATM bombing wreaks havoc on Waalwijk street

An explosive was used to blow open an ABN Amro ATM on Doctor Ringersstraat in Waalwijk early on Friday morning. The blast caused major damage to the building the ATM was attached to, blowing a massive hole in its facade. Whether the perpetrators got away with any money, is not yet clear.

The ATM bombing happened around 3:30 a.m. Witnesses saw two men in dark clothing leaving the scene on a scooter. Some witnesses also reported seeing a white delivery van driving towards Midden Brabantweg, according to Omroep Brabant.

The Ministry of Defense's explosive clearance service was called in to check the building for remaining explosives. Investigators had to wait for the building to be propped up before they could enter, due to a risk of collapse, a spokesperson for the police said to the broadcaster.

The force of the explosion also blew out a window in a nearby home. "The bang was so loud... I thought they had driven a car into somewhere", one of the residents said to Brabants Dagblad. "The house was shaking on its foundation." When she looked out her bathroom window, there was a second explosion. "I saw a huge shower of sparks across the street."

The couple heard the perpetrators talking to each other. They were "clearly not happy", the husband said to the newspaper. "They were shouting, they were clearly angry at each other, on their way to a fight. I don't think they got away with anything."

The blast left local residents shaken. "It doesn't track if you do things like this in a residential area", a local said to Omroep Brabant. "In the middle of a residential area, what is that about? It could have ended much worse." According to another resident, there were two blasts and it took the police 30 minutes to arrive. "Why don't they close the machine with shutters at night?" she wanted to know.