Man, 21, hurt in Rotterdam shooting; Explosion in nearby apartment building soon after
Rotterdam was hit by two violent incidents happening within 2.5 kilometers and 30 minutes from each other on Monday morning. A 21-year-old local man was hurt in a shooting, and an explosive going off triggered the evacuation of an apartment building.
The shooting happened on Witte de Withstraat at around 4:30 a.m. on Monday. A witness reported hearing gunshots near a shoarma shop on the street. Responding officers could not find any sign of victims or perpetrators but did find indications that there had been a shooting, the police said.
The injured man showed up at a hospital with gunshot wounds to his leg shortly after the shooting. Witnesses saw a car speed away from the scene. The police seized a car with punctured tires on Galvanistraat.
Then, at around 4:45 a.m., there was an explosion at an apartment building on Crooswijkseweg, about 2.5 kilometers away from the scene of the shooting. The emergency services evacuated the entire building, the Rotterdam police said on Twitter. There were no injuries.
Some 20 people were forced to vacate their homes due to the blast. The explosion was strong enough to rattle residents' beds, according to Rijnmond. Debris was scattered all over the street. A Rijnmond report indicated that a battery and long electricity cables were found at the scene. In the past, such equipment has been used in combination with spark plugs and volatile gas to trigger explosions at other locations, including bank teller machines.
The police are looking for witnesses for both incidents. It is not yet clear whether they were connected.
