At least four people died on Saturday in The Hague, Netherlands, where a three-story building collapsed around 6:15 a.m. after an explosion and fire. But firefighters managed to extract one person alive from the rubble, Dutch authorities announced.
During a press conference in the afternoon, the city’s mayor said he did not know “how many people are still under the rubble” and said he feared that they had “only a slim chance of survival”.
However, several hours after the explosion, a person was extracted from the rubble and transported to hospital, firefighters announced. “One person was just pulled out alive from the debris and taken to hospital,” they said in a statement.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known, but police have appealed for witnesses regarding a suspicious car. “Shortly after the explosion, a car left the scene at very high speed,” police said in a statement. “The police would like to contact people who saw this car driving or who can provide camera images,” she said.
Investigators from the judicial police were dispatched to the scene, reported an AFP journalist.
At least five apartments in the building were destroyed, authorities said, who were unable to say whether or how many people may have been trapped under the rubble.
Three people injured in the explosion, including a child, were taken to local hospitals.
Residents of the building told local media that the building was mainly inhabited by elderly people and families with children.
The building consisted of shops on the ground floor and five apartments on two floors, authorities said.
About 40 residents of other buildings near the collapsed building were evacuated.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “shocked by the terrible images of a collapsed apartment building in The Hague”, on X.
“My thoughts are with the victims, everyone else involved and the emergency services currently working at the scene,” he continued, promising all help needed.
The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, reacted on social networks: “We express our sympathy towards those directly affected or worried about their loved ones.”
