Jerry can found at Hague explosion site as king and queen visit the neighborhood
The police found a jerry can at the scene of two explosions that left at least six people dead in The Hague over the weekend, Omroep West reported. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima visited the affected apartment building on Tarwekamp on Monday morning. The King said he was “completely in shock” after his visit.
“It is beyond imagination. You follow what is happening minute by minute, but when you see the site, the impact of the explosion on those buildings, all those people there, I am shaking as I think of it,” the King said.
According to Omroep West, images show the police removing a jerry can from the scene overnight. Forensic investigators were securing trace evidence at the apartment building on Monday morning.
The Dutch Royals visited the rubble left behind by the explosion on Monday morning with Mayor Jan van Zanen of The Hague. They were briefed by the police and fire brigade before going to speak with victims, loved ones, and other locals at the community center managed by the Lichtpuntjes van Mariahoeve foundation. People directly affected are receiving care and support at the center. A fundraising action for the foundation raised around 340,000 euros by Monday morning.
The emergency services have so far removed six deceased people from the rubble, finding the sixth person in the cellar at around 2:30 a.m. on Monday, the Veiligheidsreio Haaglanden reported. The police have so far identified four of the victims. They were a 31-year-old man from Voorburg, and three victims from The Hague - a 17-year-old girl, a 45-year-old man, and a 41-year-old woman.
Rescue workers also found a survivor in the rubble around 12 hours after the explosions. The woman is a member of the Lichtpuntjes van Mariahoeve foundation. Her condition is stable, a spokesperson told Omroep West on Sunday.
The emergency services are still searching the rubble. It is unclear whether anyone is missing. Mayor Van Zanen said on Sunday that the authorities may receive reports of missing people on Monday when schools and offices noticed empty seats.
The two explosions occurred at a proch flat on Tarwekamp in the Mariahoeve district at around 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, destroying five upper-floor apartments. The police have indications that the explosions were not an accident, but that a crime had been committed, Justice Minister David van Weel said without elaborating.
In January, a devastating explosion in a drug lab in an apartment building on Schammenkamp in Rotterdam left three people dead. A 35-year-old man is suspected of causing the explosion by operating a cocaine washing facility in a garage box in the building.
The Netherlands has also seen a massive increase in explosives used to intimidate people and businesses over the past two years. The police expect that 2024 will end with well over 1,000 explosive attacks committed in the year. Last month, the police called it “a small miracle” that, except for one person dying when an explosive he was placing went off early this year, there had been no fatalities.
