2 hospitalized after fire in Rotterdam apartment building; Residents rescued with crane

A fire broke out in a home in an apartment building on Allard Piersonstraat in Rotterdam early on Tuesday morning and quickly spread to adjacent homes. Residents of the home where the fire started were rescued with a crane truck. Paramedics checked three people over at the scene and took two of them to a nearby hospital.

The fire on Allard Piersonstraat in Rotterdam’s Delfshaven neighborhood started at around 4:30 a.m. It appears to have been caused by an explosion, a spokesperson for the local security office, which covers the emergency services, told Rijnmond. Locals heard a bang before the fire started. A suspect in black clothing was seen running away from the scene, the Rotterdam police said on X.

The emergency services evacuated a total of 40 residents of the apartment building. A resident of the building told Rijnmond that someone raised the alarm about the fire early in the morning. “There were a lot of loud noises, and the police arrived quickly. We had to leave our house quickly, but the cats were still inside. They couldn’t come with us,” the resident said. “Everyone was very calm. There was no smoke, but you could smell the fire.”

The authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire. The extent of the hospitalized residents’ injuries is unknown. The security office spokesperson said they were not the residents of the home where the fire started.