Major fire in Rotterdam apartment building, two residents taken to hospital

A fire raged in a home on the seventh floor of an apartment building in Rotterdam on Sunday morning. Two residents of the building complex were taken to a hospital because they had inhaled smoke. Two other neighbors were examined by paramedics, according to the fire department. Seven apartments are uninhabitable due to fire, smoke, and water damage.

The apartment in Veenoord Street in the IJsselmonde district has 12 floors. In order to have enough people to check the floors above, the fire department gave the signal for a very large fire. The residents of nine apartments had to leave their homes. They were temporarily accommodated in a bus from transport company RET.

Overall, seven apartments on the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors are uninhabitable due to fire, smoke, and water damage, the fire department reported on Sunday morning. Accommodation and aftercare is currently being organized. According to AD, a total of nine of the approximately 200 apartments in the Rotterdam residential building were evacuated.

The fire, which broke out at around 4:30 a.m., released a lot of smoke that spread through the stairwell. In the meantime, the fire brigade called on neighboring residents in the area to stay away from the smoke and to switch off ventilation, the AD reported. The fire department had the fire under control by 05:30 a.m.