Man critically injured by explosive in The Hague

A man was critically hurt in an explosion on Engelenburgstraat in The Hague early on Thursday morning. Emergency services responded to reports of the blast and found the injured man on the street. First responders stabilized him at the scene before rushing him to a hospital, the police said.

Witnesses told Regio 15 that the injured person was holding the explosive in his hand when it went off. They said it appeared he lost both his hands in the incident.

The incident happened at the corner of Steijnlaan and Engelenburgstraat in the Transvaalkwartier. Records show a helicopter was sent to the scene with a medical trauma team just after 1:30 a.m., and paramedics were also sent by ambulance.

The explosion happened at a car on the street, according to Omroep West. The police cordoned off the area and were investigating.

The Netherlands, especially the Rotterdam region and other large cities, has been plagued by explosive attacks for more than a year. The authorities believe criminals are using these attacks to intimidate each other. Last year, there were 716 such explosions in the Netherlands. The vast majority of them resulted only in material damage.