3 missing, 1 hurt after explosion at Rotterdam apartment building; Fire still raging
Three people are missing after an explosion caused a massive fire in an apartment complex on Schammenkamp in Rotterdam on Monday evening. The emergency services have confirmed one injured person. He was found hurt on the street and taken to a hospital. Firefighters are still trying to extinguish the massive blaze caused by an explosion in the building’s parking garage.
A spokesperson for the local security office, Veiligheidsregion Rotterdam-Rijnmond, told Rijnmond that there may be more victims in the building. They’ve been unable to properly search the apartment complex because the fire is still raging. It is also unknown whether anyone was in the parking garage or the apartments right above it when the explosion happened.
Residents of 44 apartments spent the night in local hotels. The authorities asked people living in the building to indicate that they are safe on this Red Cross website. The security office will open an information station at the Feijenoord area office at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday for residents with questions.
The buildings in Zuidwijk are very close together, with many shops and businesses in between, making things difficult for the fire brigade. There is a risk of the fire spreading to other parts of the building. The fire department, therefore, demolished part of the building to preserve the supermarket located there.
The emergency services need to close a second gas pipe in the street but have so far been unable to do so, according to Rijnmond. The street needs to be opened to access the pipe, but that has been impossible due to the vast amount of firefighting water used overnight.
There is also a fireworks storage depot on the same street, but it was fortunately unaffected. First responders from the police, fire brigade, ambulances, and the fireworks company employees quickly loaded the fireworks into a truck and took them somewhere safe. There were around 5,000 kilograms of fireworks in the depot.
At this stage, the authorities can’t say what caused the explosion. Once the fire is extinguished, the police will set up a crime scene and investigate.
A woman who lives in the building across the street told Rijnmond that she initially thought the explosion was a firework going off. “It was deafening. I was shocked but realized that this couldn’t be fireworks. I immediately heard everyone screaming. Then we came outside and saw that it was really bad.”
The force of the explosion shattered many windows in the area. “It really is a big havoc. There is a lot of glass and rubbish on the street. We are working on cleaning it up so that people can cross the streets again,” the local said.
