Video of fatal Rotterdam explosion shows mystery van’s narrow escape

Surveillance camera footage shows a white delivery van narrowly escaping a massive explosion on Schammenkamp in Rotterdam last week, which cost the lives of three people. The police would like to talk to the people in the van - they may have seen something that can help with the investigation, the police said on Opsporing Verzocht on Tuesday.

The video shows a white or light-colored van driving over a speed bump on Schammenkamp, followed by the explosion. If the van had been a few seconds slower, it would have been caught in the blast.

The police asked the driver of the van and any possible passengers to please make contact with them. Investigators want to talk to them as witnesses.

The explosion happened at around 7:30 p.m. on Monday, January 29, in a building comprising businesses on the ground floor and apartments above. Three men died in the blast. They were all working in the business premises when the explosion happened.

A tenant of one of the apartments got seriously hurt. He was sitting on his couch when the explosion happened right below him. He fell through the floor - couch and all - into a sea of flames. He was treated for burns and cuts in the hospital and is currently staying with his family.

The police currently believe that one of the business premises in the building was used as a drug lab and that the explosion originated there. On Saturday, they arrested the 34-year-old tenant of that premises. He was remanded into custody on Tuesday, and his role in the alleged drug lab and explosion is under investigation.

Investigators would also like to talk to anyone who has information about what happened in the business premises in Zuidwijk in the months before the explosion.

The explosion left the seven apartments directly above the business space uninhabitable. Residents of the other apartments have been allowed to return, though the city was still working on reconnecting the building to the gas, electricity, and heat network. Many residents also indicated that they were too frightened to return to those homes.