Emergency services are responding to a devastating explosion early Saturday morning that partially destroyed a three-story apartment building on Tarwekamp in The Hague. A specialized Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team has been deployed to the site (…) Up to 20 people could be trapped underneath the rubble, according to a spokesperson from the regional safety authority.
Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the explosion.
Another picture showing the scale of the situation. We had 378 explosions in 2023. I wonder if we’ll beat the number this year
378 seems like a ton.
Why so many explosions?
From a German article:
In den Niederlanden gab es zuletzt wiederholt Sprengstoffanschläge im kriminellen Milieu. Betroffen sind Häuser, Firmengebäude und Autos. Die nachts an Hauseingängen, Fassaden oder Geschäften deponierten Spreng- oder Brandsätze richteten bislang meist Sachschäden an, verletzt wurde in der Vergangenheit meist niemand. Nach Polizeiangaben geht es bei den Anschlägen um Drogen, Einschüchterung und Erpressung.
Ob die Explosion und der anschließende Brand in Den Haag allerdings einen kriminellen Hintergrund haben, ist noch offen.
Which reads (via deepl as I’m lazy):
There have been repeated bomb attacks in the criminal milieu in the Netherlands recently. Houses, company buildings and cars have been targeted. The explosives or incendiary devices planted at night at house entrances, facades or stores have mostly caused damage to property, but in the past no one has been injured. According to the police, the attacks involve drugs, intimidation and blackmail.
However, it remains to be seen whether the explosion and subsequent fire in The Hague have a criminal background.
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/explosion-den-haag-100.html
Instead of just knifing our neighbours’ tires or smashing an ex’s window, we have progressed to using home made pipe bombs from easily acquirable illegal fireworks
