Video: Three injured after explosion, fire at senior apartment complex in Vlissingen
An explosion followed by a fast-moving fire tore through a senior apartment complex in the center of Vlissingen late Tuesday, injuring three people and causing extensive damage to homes, vehicles, and nearby buildings, authorities said.
The blast occurred shortly after 11 p.m. in a 32-unit senior flat on Schutterijstraat. The explosion and subsequent fire were reported as separate but closely linked incidents, with the blast triggering a fierce blaze.
One of the injured residents was taken to a hospital. Emergency officials said multiple people were hurt, including one person who was seriously injured and had to be brought down from the building using an aerial platform.
According to Omroep Zeeland, the explosion was heard across a wide area of Vlissingen. It caused heavy damage to several apartments. Windows shattered in numerous homes, and debris littered the street, including a sunshade several meters long. Parked cars and nearby buildings were also damaged, and a streetlight was knocked down.
Fire broke out immediately after the blast and spread quickly despite firefighting efforts. Fire crews escalated the response to a “very large fire,” attacking the blaze from inside and outside the building.
The response included four fire engines, a ladder truck, an aerial platform, a water tanker, multiple ambulances, and police units. Several residents were rescued from their balconies using an aerial platform. After roughly 1.5 to 2 hours, the fire was contained.
An unknown number of residents were evacuated. They were taken to a temporary shelter set up at a police station on Breestraat, where Red Cross volunteers provided assistance. The mayor of Vlissingen also went to the site. Most residents have since been allowed to return home.
Frans Meijer, who lives beneath the apartment where the explosion occurred, described the scene in stark terms. “I was lying on the couch, and suddenly my window blew out of the frame, straight into the living room,” he told Omroep Zeeland. “I immediately went outside with my wife. It was burning at the front and the back of that apartment. I don’t know who lives there—yes, a man alone. It is an enormous battlefield.”
Meijer said he could find somewhere else to sleep in Vlissingen but was unable to retrieve his phone. “I do miss my phone; it’s still charging inside,” he said.
Municipal officials inspected the senior apartment complex and later declared it structurally safe. The cause of the explosion remains unknown, authorities said.
