Gas explosion at Bilthoven flat; 4 firefighters hurt

Two gas explosions collapsed part of an apartment building on Weegschaal in Bilthoven on Thursday. Four firefighters were injured, a spokesperson for the Utrecht security region said to RTV Utrecht. One firefighter had to be pulled from the rubble. All of the apartment building residents escaped unharmed.

Firefighters responded to a report of a gas leak at 9:06 a.m. on Thursday. They evacuated eight homes in the apartment building at around 9:40 a.m. Another block was evacuated a short time later as the gas spread. At around 10:45 a.m., there was a small explosion. A second, bigger explosion happened at 11:15 a.m.

The firefighters got hurt in the second explosion. They all sustained relatively minor injuries, but were still taken to a hospital for treatment, a spokesperson for the security region said to ANP.

A photo from RTV Utrecht shows that the blasts destroyed two apartments completely. Part of the facade was blown away. You can look right through the building, front to back.

Emergency services declared a Grip 1 situation at 10:30 a.m. and scaled it up to Grip 2 at 11:51 a.m. That means that the incident affects the entire city and region. A regional command team is coordinating between all emergency services leadership, and the mayor and his administration are kept informed and involved.

According to the regional broadcaster, a gas pipe was broken during work on the apartment building.