Fatal explosion in The Hague may have targeted bridal shop; Car raced off at 200 km/h
A series of explosions that killed six people in The Hague may have been an intentional act aimed at a bridal shop located on the ground floor, police said on Tuesday. The explosions resulted in a fire, destroying the bridal store, a bar, and five apartments, and damaged at least 14 other residences. A car was also spotted on a nearby highway reaching speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour.
Three suspects were arrested on Monday night in connection with the incident. Several of their cars were seized, but it has not been reported yet whether one of the vehicles was the one that has been sought after since Saturday.
Police confirmed during crime watch program Opsporing Verzocht that they suspect the possibility that the bridal shop was a possible target of the explosions on early Saturday morning. They did not explain their reasoning, but asked that anyone with knowledge of suspicious activity at the shop contact them immediately.
"There was a bridal shop there for a year," said Apple Wang in an earlier interview with Omroep West. "But half the shop was empty. We don't know what's going on there." Wang owns the Pole Inspiration dance studio a few doors down from where the explosion happened on Tarwekamp.
On Tuesday, police also asked for the public's help in tracking down a blue 2009 Toyota Yaris and a champagne-colored 2009 Kia Ceed station wagon. These vehicles may have been involved, but police did not say if they were suspected to be getaway cars.
It also emerged Tuesday afternoon that camera footage obtained by police shows a car driving from The Hague towards Amsterdam on the A4 motorway at a speed of well over 200 kilometers per hour shortly after the explosion on Tarwekamp. A police spokesperson would not say whether this was a getaway car, Omroep West reported, and police on Opsoring Verzocht did not explain if there was a connection to the Toyota or Kia mentioned.
Investigators were given dashcam footage from a man who said he himself was driving at 200 kilometers per hour on the A4, when he was overtaken by another vehicle racing in the direction of Amsterdam. The man went to the police after hearing about the events of last Saturday morning. He has been forbidden from sharing the footage or speaking about the incident.
Police have been looking for information about at least one vehicle since it was reported that a car drove away from the scene “at a very high rate of speed” after the explosion. A vehicle was found destroyed by a fire near the scene, but it also was not known if this vehicle was connected.
It is still unclear what caused the explosions. Police told NL Times that there was no evidence of a drug lab at the scene, as some speculated, but police still believe that foul play may have taken place at the Tarwekamp. A jerry can was removed from the scene by forensic investigators.
