At least five killed after blast causes Dutch apartment building to partially collapse

By Catherine Nicholls, CNN

(CNN) — At least five people have died 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.

Though the search began as a rescue operation, Jan van Zanen, mayor of The Hague 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.

The Dutch Urban Search and Rescue service sent a rescue group to the scene on Saturday morning, 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 was a risk that it could fully collapse, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS. Some 40 homes have been evacuated, it 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.

Forensic officers were 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.

This story has been updated with developments.

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