The death toll of one explosion and fire that destroyed an apartment building in the Netherlands rose to six on Monday, officials said, revealing that a teenage girl was among the victims.
Rescuers pulled a sixth body from the rubble in the early hours of Monday in The Hague, amid fears they would discover more victims of the blast that occurred at dawn on Saturday.
“Around 2:30 a.m., a sixth body was found and recovered in the basement of the collapsed building,” the local fire brigade said.
“The search for possible victims in the basement of the collapsed building is still ongoing, with a USAR dog still being deployed,” the agency said later.
Yves Herman / REUTERS
Police identified four of the dead: two men aged 45 and 31, a 41-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl. Four other people are in hospital, two of whom are in serious condition.
Authorities do not know how many people were in the building at the time of the blast, so it remains unclear how many more bodies might be found in the rubble.
The fire was so intense that identification was only possible through DNA testing, further complicating the process.
Police still don’t know exactly what caused the explosion, but the head of the public prosecutor’s office told reporters on Sunday that there were unspecified indications that it was a criminal act.
They are particularly keen to speak to the driver of a car that left the scene at 6.15am on Saturday.
A detailed search for clues about the cause of the explosion cannot begin until the search through the rubble for victims is completed, authorities said.
Dutch authorities deployed a specialized urban search and rescue team to the scene, with four dogs trained to find victims. The team was previously deployed during the devastating earthquake in Turkey in 2023.
Shortly after the explosion, a line of ambulances could be seen waiting nearby in anticipation of more victims. The local hospital spokesperson said they were on standby to deal with injuries.
The mayor called it ‘an extremely difficult day’.
“I expected a different Saturday,” Van Zanen said at a press conference.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof said in a statement that he was shocked by the images of the disaster. “My thoughts go out to the victims, everyone else involved and the emergency services now working on the scene,” he said.
The Dutch royal family expressed similar sentiments. “Our thoughts are with those affected in The Hague after the explosion and fire this morning,” including those “who fear for the fate of their loved ones,” King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
