Security tightened after plumber targeted in 8th explosion in Vlaardingen

There was another explosion early on Friday morning at a commercial property in Vlaardingen owned by a plumber who has been the target of several other explosions this year. The Friday blast concerns a garage at the intersection of Wilhelminastraat and Koninginnestraat, where there was also an explosion either late on Tuesday or early on Wednesday morning. Security measures are being expanded in the Vlaardingen district of Oostwijk as the result of the latest incident.

The police said that the most recent incident happened at 6 a.m. Nobody was hurt, but a window was broken. A police spokesperson could not say why the plumber was the target when asked early on Friday morning.

It is the seventh explosion of this year in Vlaardingen, where the plumber was also a target. A suspicious package was also taken from a home on the Gretha Hofstralaan before it was safely disposed.

The explosions started in April. Two blasts, which took place a few days apart, caused severe damage to cars. It was quiet for a while after that, but it restarted on the 5th of December with explosions at homes and office buildings.

The explosion in Vlaardingen on Friday morning was the fifth explosion that the Rotterdam police have reported just since Thursday evening. “It isn’t stopping,” said the police on X after the incident in Vlaardingen.

There was an explosion on Spinet in the Rotterdam neighborhood of Zevenkamp at about 7 p.m. Then, close to 11 p.m., something exploded under a car at Zeisvoorde in Spijkenisse.

Private security was deployed in the neighborhood and the police are also deploying extra manpower, the municipality said on Friday evening. Vlaardingen mayor Bert Wijbenga said it was "horrible" for all residents "that we cannot control these explosions."

Wijbenga expressed his condolences to all affected local residents. "People are sad, scared and angry, and that is of course completely understandable. I'm angry too."

The mayor promised that he will continue to do everything he can, together with the police and the Public Prosecution Service, to put an end to the series of explosions. For example, the building where an explosive went off on Friday morning was already closed after an earlier explosion.

A 26-year-old Rotterdam resident was also arrested during the overnight hours from Monday to Tuesday after an explosion on Gretha Hofstralaan on December 12. The suspect's pre-trial detention was extended by two weeks on Friday.

Two other explosions happened early on Friday. Somebody suffered minor injuries in Rotterdam at a blast at around 1:30 a.m. in Delfshaven, and shortly after 4 a.m., it happened again in Dordrecht. The explosions in the two cities both occurred on Brikstraat. Nobody was hurt in Dordrecht, but a home was damaged.