34-year-old Jalal O. arrested in connection with Rotterdam building explosion
O. will be brought before the examining magistrate on Tuesday, the Public Prosecution Service reported on Sunday. The examining magistrate will determine whether the man will remain in custody for longer.
The man who was arrested on Saturday in the investigation of the massive explosion and fire in an apartment building on Schammenkamp in Rotterdam-Zuidwijk is 34-year-old Jalal O. He is the tenant of the warehouse where the explosion occurred, according to RTV Rijnmond. The police said on Saturday that more arrests are possible.
However, the public prosecutor's office (OM) and the police do not wish to comment on the broadcaster's investigation and thus neither confirm nor deny the identity of the suspect.
The police did, however, say that the debris contained items indicating that they had been used to manufacture drugs. This was also the reason why 34-year-old Jalal O. was arrested. "Then you have to think about several barrels of chemicals, a scale, a sieve. Things that, taken together, make it plausible that drugs were being manufactured there," a police spokesperson said.
During a press conference, authorities would not comment on observations by journalists and witnesses that noted that jerrycans of hydrochloric acid and acetone were found among the rubble, except to say that they could have been used professionally by the repair and odd-jobs business that was based there.
At the same time, the two chemicals can be used as raw materials to produce ecstasy, cocaine and heroin. Residents said they noticed a smell like gas at some point before the explosion, the Public Prosecution Service stated. Measurements taken at the scene, however, could not identify the presence of any gas.
O. told RTV Rijnmond that his workshop is used for repair jobs. On the day of the explosion, he, his nephew Ilyas and his colleague Mustafa were in the workshop together. O. wanted to repair a customer's door while the other two unloaded items. However, as Jalal was unable to repair the door, he left the workshop while Mustafa and Ilyas stayed. 40 minutes before the explosion, Jalal drove away from the workshop. He turned back immediately when he could no longer reach Mustafa and Ilyas after the first reports of the fire, he told the broadcaster.
