Home evacuations in Rotterdam and The Hague due to major fire

Several apartments in Rotterdam-Hillegersberg were evacuated on Saturday morning due to a fire. As a result, two residents had inhaled smoke and were taken to a hospital. The fire has since been extinguished, the Rotterdam Rijnmond Safety Region reported.

The fire broke out at around 9.15 a.m. in an apartment above a café on the Kleiweg, after which the flames spread to other apartments. However, it is not yet clear how this could have happened. The three residential floors above the café were evacuated, as were the neighboring houses.

The fire was extinguished an hour later. "We are now looking for the source of the fire," said the fire department. Further investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.

In another incident, 24 homes had to be evacuated on Friday night due to a fire in Zuidwal in The Hague. According to the fire department, no one was injured.

The fire department received a report of a possible house fire at around 03:45 a.m. Several residents had heard a loud bang, after which the building filled with smoke. On site, it turned out that there had been an explosion in a corridor of the building, the police said.

According to a spokesperson, the fire was quickly extinguished, but when the emergency services arrived at the house, heavy smoke was visible. It was then decided to evacuate the surrounding homes.

The residents were temporarily housed elsewhere. The police are still investigating the cause of the fire.