Shaken residents describe panic after The Hague explosion that killed 1, injured 12

Hours after a deadly explosion at a Hengelolaan apartment building in The Hague’s Haagse Hout district, residents gathered outside the building Friday evening, still shaken by the blast that killed one person and injured 12 others. The explosion affected six apartments in total and was first reported just after 5 p.m.

“There was panic. We could not get outside because of the thick smoke,” Mujde Yildirim, who lives on the first floor directly above the basement where the explosion occurred, told Omroep West. “I smelled gas. I had just cooked, so I went to the kitchen to check. It wasn’t coming from there. When I went to the balcony, the explosion happened.”

Yildirim said three people were in her apartment at the time. “There was first smoke that was not from the explosion, but from the building itself. We could not exit through the front door because of the thick, gray smoke. I had just hung laundry outside, so I grabbed three wet cloths from the line to cover our mouths. Soon after, a firefighter came to get us out of the building.”

One neighbor said, “I immediately closed everything and told my husband to close all doors and windows. I saw a large fire, and the windows were blown out.” A resident across the street recalled hearing a “bang” and said her husband remarked, “It looked like a bomb.”

Some residents expressed relief at having temporary shelter but uncertainty about returning home. “I am lucky to have a place to stay with my family,” Yildirim said. Other neighbors noted that smaller explosions are sometimes heard in the area, but “this time it was very serious,” one resident said.

The displaced residents are reportedly being cared for at city facilities while salvage teams assess the damage.