At least four in hospital after blast causes Dutch apartment building to partially collapse

At least four people have been taken to the 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.

The Dutch Urban Search and Rescue service said in a post on X that it had sent a rescue group to the scene, including four dog handlers and a structural engineer.

By 11:30 a.m. local time, the fire was nearly out and rescue dogs were searching for possible victims, firefighters said.

The dogs could not search the building for long, however, because there is a risk that it could fully collapse, according to the Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

Firefighters told NOS that there is not currently a clear picture of the total number of victims in the incident. Some 40 homes have been evacuated, NOS reported.

One man told the broadcaster that his first thought upon seeing the aftermath of the explosion was that it was due to a rocket attack. He heard a child calling for help from the rubble, he said, but was unable to reach them when people pulled him back from the fire.

The Hague municipality stated on Saturday morning that one of the four injured people is a child, but a spokesperson for the regional safety authority later said that this wasn’t true, NOS reported.

Forensic officers are also at the scene collecting evidence, the broadcaster said.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said in a post on X that he was “shocked” by images of the damaged apartment building, and that he has spoken with the mayor of The Hague to offer help. The Dutch king and queen said in a statement that their thoughts were with those affected by the incident.