Heerenveen apartment block for top athletes evacuated over pepper spray; 7 people unwell
The fire brigade evacuated two floors of a 10-story apartment building in Heerenveen on Monday night after residents became unwell due to a strange smell. Paramedics treated seven people, referring two to the emergency doctor, the local security office said. Firefighters determined that the smell came from someone spraying pepper spray.
The Cunabula apartment building on Heremaweg is known as the “top sports flat” because many athletes from clubs in the region live there, including footballers, skaters, and judokas.
The emergency services evacuated the 7th and 8th floors of the building, Veiligheidsregio Fryslan reported at 10:22 p.m. By around 1:00 a.m., the floors had been cleaned up, and all residents except for one flat on the 7th floor could return to their homes.
Youth player Raoef Assady of SC Heerenveen was one of the people treated by paramedics. “I was just watching my series on the couch, and suddenly my eyes watered. My nose closed. You could just feel something in the air,” he told Omrop Fryslân. “My father was with me, and he turned completely red. We both got very dizzy. We heard several people on my floor coughing very loudly.” They called the emergency services.
SC Heerenveen midfielder Isaiah Ahmed was playing video games when firefighters started evacuating parts of the building. “I was playing FIFA, and suddenly I heard a banging sound. ‘Open the door, fire department!’ I thought it was a joke at first, but I felt something in my throat. It made me cough.”
