At least three people have died and a further three people have been taken to hospital after an explosion in an apartment building in The Hague, the Netherlands on Saturday, according to authorities.
The blast took place around 6:15 a.m. local time, firefighters said, causing the three-story apartment building to partially collapse and set on fire. Five different apartments were affected by the explosion, they said.
Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen a car driving away from the scene at a very high speed shortly after the incident.
Jan van Zanen, mayor of The Hague, said at a Saturday news conference that a body had been discovered in the rubble, and that the search for victims was ongoing. Shortly after that, police confirmed that another two bodies had been recovered from the site.
Though the search began as a rescue operation, van Zanen said, by Saturday afternoon, it had turned into a recovery mission instead.
It is not known how many people are still under the rubble, he said, but “the reality is that the chances of survival for them are slim.”
“We are considering the worst-case scenario,” the mayor said.
and a further three people have been taken to hospital after an explosion in an apartment building in The Hague, the Netherlands on Saturday, according to authorities.
The blast took place around 6:15 a.m. local time, firefighters said, causing the three-story apartment building to partially collapse and set on fire. Five different apartments were affected by the explosion, they said.
Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen a car driving away from the scene at a very high speed shortly after the incident.
Jan van Zanen, mayor of The Hague, said at a Saturday news conference that a body had been discovered in the rubble, and that the search for victims was ongoing. Shortly after that, police confirmed that another two bodies had been recovered from the site.
Though the search began as a rescue operation, van Zanen said, by Saturday afternoon, it had turned into a recovery mission instead.
It is not known how many people are still under the rubble, he said, but “the reality is that the chances of survival for them are slim.”
“We are considering the worst-case scenario,” the mayor said.
