explosion

People in Amsterdam received a frightening wake-up call when a large explosion rattled windows and shook floors early Saturday morning. The blast took place on the Korte van Eeghenstraat in Amsterdam Zuid at about 4:25 a.m.

There were no serious injuries, though two people were treated by ambulance personnel at the scene, according to broadcaster AT5. The explosion caused property damage to buildings and vehicles, police said. A reporter for the broadcaster said the explosion occurred beneath or next to a parked car in front of the Park View Hotel. 

Shell must pay a fine of 2.5 million euros for an explosion on the company's Moerdijk site in 2014, the court in Den Bosch ruled on Monday. According to the court, the oil- and gas giant did not take sufficient measures to prevent such a major incident, NU.nl reports.

The building on Hoefkade in The Hague hit by an explosion on Thursday morning, belongs to the father of Hague criminal Reda N. He owns the travel agency in the building and rents space to a hair salon, the man himself confirmed to Omroep West.

The explosion happened at around 1:30 a.m. It caused significant damage to the building - shattering windows and knocking the front door out - as well as to surrounding homes and cars parked in the area. No one was hurt.

A fire broke out in a New York Pizza building on Nobelstraat in the center of Utrecht after an explosion on Monday morning, local safety office Veiligheidsregio Utrecht said on Twitter. The fire department is at the scene in large numbers to extinguish the fire, NU.nl reports.

Exactly what caused the explosion is not yet clear, a spokesperson for the safety office said to the newspaper. It is also unknown whether anyone was in the building when the explosion happened. Paramedics are treating a number of people for smoke inhalation, the spokesperson said.

A man was killed in an explosion and fire in an apartment in Voorburg during the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Haaglanden fire department confirmed on Twitter. 

The fire broke out just after midnight. Firefighters managed to get the resident out of the burning apartment. Emergency workers tried to resuscitate him, but it was to no avail. The man died at the scene.

Multiple other apartments in the complex on Frans Mortelmansstraat were evacuated. The residents were allowed to return home at around 2:00 a.m.

One person was killed in an explosion on a passenger train car in Nijmegen on Sunday morning. There were no passengers on the train at the time, which was sitting idle in a rail yard at the time of the powerful blast, police said.

Four people were injured Wednesday morning when an explosion took place at a Tata Steel facility in Velsen-Noord, Noord Holland. All four of the victims are employees who were transported to area hospitals, the company said. Their injuries were not specified, but were not believed to be life threatening, a Tata Steel spokesperson told several news outlets.

A second explosion at coffeeshop Smoke Palace on Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam Oost on Sunday, seems to be aimed at Mustapha el Y., the brother of Smoke Palace owner Mohamed, Het Parool reports based on information from sources. Mustapha el Y. is on an underworld death list and his own company was targeted in the past, according to the newspaper.

Two hand grenades that exploded on Hanselaarmate in Zwolle on Tuesday morning, seem to be aimed at Rob Kooistra, owner of Zwolle nightclub Bruut. In October last year, a hand grenade was also tied to the door of his club. The man believes the hand grenades are intended to ensure that his club can't reopen. "I'm not a bad guy", Kooistra said to De Stentor. "I can't do anything about this and I find it regrettable that there are people who have a negative opinion about this."

The police are investigating an explosion in Zwolle early on Tuesday morning. Part of Hanselaarmate is closed down for this investigation, NU.nl reports.

Many residents reported hearing two loud bangs at around 4:30 a.m. At least two cars were damaged.

It is not yet clear what happened, the police said to the newspaper. 

Two explosives were detonated in Amsterdam during the early hours of Wednesday morning. One damaged two businesses in Amsterdam West. And multiple cars were found damaged after an explosion near Sloterdijk, AT5 reports.

At around 4:30 a.m. an explosive was used in an attempted burglary on Jan Evertsenstraat in Amsterdam West. The buildings of a restaurant and a jeweler sustained damage. The police are investigating and looking for witnesses.