Explosion in Hillegom leaves one hurt, ten homes damaged

An explosion in a residential neighborhood early Wednesday morning left one person injured in Hillegom, Zuid-Holland. The person suffered minor injuries, police said in a statement.

A total of ten homes were damaged in the blast, police said. The cause of the incident is under investigation. No arrests were immediately announced.

It happened at about 4:45 a.m. on Mauritslaan. “Several emergency services such as the police and the fire brigade turned out after the report and the Explosives Safety Team, among others, came to the scene,” police said. “The area has been cordoned off and four homes have been evacuated.”

Photos from the scene showed shards of glass from damaged windows in front of several apartments in a three story building. The building has 11 units in total, and is located across from a small playground and another housing complex.

Neighbors in the apartment building told Omroep West they were quite shocked, and were fearful that another explosion or violent incident could happen in the future. One went outside after hearing the blast and ran into another area resident who was screaming. "He was totally in shock and injured,” the man said to the local broadcaster.

“I held him in until the police arrived. I feel very sorry for him and at the same time I'm glad nobody else was hurt.”

In another apartment, the explosion was strong enough to break apart a window frame. "My mother was sleeping in the next room and the window fell on her,” another resident said. “She was under the glass. She's doing fine," the resident said.

Police asked people in the area to come forward if they saw something unusual on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Investigators also hoped to be able to obtain camera images from the vicinity of the explosion.