Dutch PM calls visit to Rotterdam explosion site "very intense"; Speaks to locals
Outgoing Prime Minster Mark Rutte visited the ruins of a Rotterdam apartment building on Monday, where an explosion and resulting fire killed three people and seriously injured one a week ago. He called it “very intense” to be at the location and said that speaking to police officers, local residents, and entrepreneurs in the area made a real impact on him, according to ANP.
Rutte arrived at the disaster site on Schammenkamp at around 10:30 a.m. He called the fact that he was able to visit today a “bizarre coincidence,” according to NOS. Months ago, he made an appointment to visit a school around the corner.
The outgoing Prime Minister spoke to police officers, expressing great respect for the emergency workers. He also spoke to local entrepreneurs. The owner of a supermarket around the corner - in the same building where the explosion happened - told him how barely he escaped the disaster.
The explosion happened in the garage under the business and apartment building on Schammenkamp at around 8:25 p.m. on Monday, January 29. First responders helped a man found seriously hurt on the street outside. Witnesses said that he appeared to have fallen through the floor above the garage when it collapsed in the explosion. He was rushed to a hospital. A second injured person was treated at the scene. Three people were unaccounted for.
The blast caused a massive fire, which took firefighters well into Tuesday to extinguish. The damage left the building unstable, meaning that emergency workers couldn’t enter it for several days to search for the missing people.
On Wednesday, family members of missing Kamran Kahn (43) entered the disaster site themselves, defying the police trying to keep them away. They located his body and later recovered it themselves.
That night, the authorities started demolishing the building to make it safe enough to search. The sight of concrete blocks coming down on the rubble beneath which the other two missing persons lay caused a great deal of distress for their families, who clashed with the police.
The police found the body of 22-year-old Ilyas on Thursday. And 33-year-old Mustafa’s remains were found and recovered on Friday morning.
“The emotion is understandable, especially for Muslims who want the funeral to take place within a day,” Rutte said about the unrest at the scene on Wednesday night. “At the same time, it is a dangerous place. That’s what makes our police special: making extraordinary decisions in extraordinary circumstances.”
Over the weekend, the authorities announced that they’ve found indications of a drug lab at the scene of the explosion. They’ve arrested one suspect and said that more arrests will follow. The investigation into the cause of the blast is still ongoing.
Rutte wouldn’t comment on the investigation. “I am here to talk to people in the area,” he told NOS.
