Father, mother, daughter rescued alive from collapsed house
Update 1:48 p.m. - Article updated to add details about the father's rescue from the collapse house.
Emergency services pulled a man from the rubble of a collapsed house in Oldenzaal hours after the house fell in on itself, the fire department said at around 1:30 p.m. A gas explosion caused the house to collapse at around 9:45 a.m. A spokesperson for the fire department told ANP that the man was alive and taken to an area hospital. His condition was not released.
A family of five lived in the house, AD reports. Rescue workers freed the mother and a daughter from the rubble shortly after the collapse and took them to a hospital in Enschede with unknown injuries. The son was outside when the house collapsed due to a gas explosion. The second daughter was not home, according to the newspaper.
According to ANP, the gas explosion was caused by a pipeline being hit during the installation of a charging station. The mechanic was taken to the hospital in shock.
The fire brigade deployed dogs to search for any further victims, but this is just a precaution, spokesperson Wendy Franke of the Twente Fire Brigade said to AD. They have no reason to believe anyone else was in the home when it collapsed.
The emergency services asked locals to bring wheelbarrows to help move rubble out of the way. Specialist Technical Assistant teams are at the scene. They specialize in stabilizing structures and finding and rescuing people trapped under debris.
The emergency services also set up a reception area at the hockey association Bully for people who need help dealing with the mental impact of the explosion and collapse. "Bystanders and people involved can go there to talk about the incident or just be together," the fire department said on Twitter.
