Another explosion at Vlaardingen plumber's home

Overnight, there was another explosion at the home of the frequently targeted plumber Ron van Uffelen on Gretha Hofstralaan in Vlaardingen. No one was hurt in the blast, which happened at around 1:30 a.m., and the damage is limited, Rijnmond reports.

The police cordoned off the area around the house and are investigating. Two suspects were seen fleeing the scene, but no one has been arrested yet.

The latest attack happened just days after Mayor Bert Wijbenga of Vlaardingen extended the closure of Van Uffelen’s home for another three months. “It was decided in consultation with the police and Public Prosecution Service and was not an easy choice,” the mayor wrote in an email that Rijnmond saw. “However, the mayor feels compelled to do this because there is still a threatened danger to the family and local residents.”

The police are already monitoring the house due to the many attacks on the plumber. The municipality has also placed sandbags on the side of the home to buffer neighbors’ homes.

In April, the threatened plumber said in an interview that he had no idea who was targeting him in the many attacks. The first one happened on 4 April 2023. Over Easter weekend this year, someone threw a firebomb into the home of his sister-in-law and his two nephews. All three had to go to the hospital with breathing problems. One of the boys spent two days in intensive care. The inside of their home was completely destroyed by the fire.

After that attack, mayor Wijbenga imposed a restraining order on Van Uffelen, banning him from two neighborhoods in the municipality. “I don’t understand that. It would be for safety reasons. But I have never been near the place where an explosive went off,” the plumber said to Rijnmond in April. “The mayor also sent me out of my house. I am now in a hotel that I have to pay for myself. The costs are quite high, I can tell you. And that is, of course, the icing on the cake for the person behind the explosives.”