Resident after third Rotterdam explosion: ‘King’s Day money could be better spent on security’ | Interior

30 Apr 2023 at 14:39

For the third time this week there was an explosion on the Crooswijkseweg in Rotterdam. A suspicious object was also found in the street this week. Fear among residents is increasing and they hope that the police can intervene. “The blow was huge.”

Large wooden planks have been nailed for Toko Arti. The glass that flew around a few hours earlier has been cleaned up. The burning smell that hangs in front of the building betrays the explosions that happened last night.

People who do their shopping in the various shops in the street look at Toko Arti and talk about it with each other. Some stand still. They see that there are cracks in the glass canopy of the building. A lamp dangles from a wire.

“Boom, boom, boom. It was hard man,” says Henk, who lives a little further away. “I was still awake and immediately called the police. They were there very quickly.”

“It’s not too bad,” he says when he looks at the damage to Toko Arti. “Because the blow was huge.” While he is telling his story, a police van drives down the street twice.

Multiple explosions in Rotterdam

Last night’s explosion was the third on Crooswijkseweg in a week. In front of the toko where there was an explosion last night, a passerby found a suspicious object on Saturday. There were also explosions elsewhere in the city last week. This year there were almost as many explosions at homes and businesses in the port city as in the whole of last year: 49.

‘We are really scared, especially my daughter’

The police are still in the dark who is behind it, although they take into account that the events on Crooswijkseweg are related.

There are several houses above Toko Arti. One of the residents says she was shocked by the blows. “We are really scared, especially my daughter. She finds it really difficult.”

She is – to put it mildly – not looking forward to next night. “We can’t move, but I think it’s exciting to be home.”

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The municipality is increasing supervision in the neighbourhood

A little further on, a woman also expresses her fear. “I’m 83, so when it’s my time I’ll go anyway,” she says in flat Rotterdam. “But I don’t like it.”

She does have an idea of ​​what needs to be done. “They should have spent the four million for the king on security here,” she says. She refers to the costs of the king’s arrival in Rotterdam on King’s Day.

Henk also thinks that security should be increased. “Look, there are cameras hanging there and there,” he explains pointing. “Did they sleep behind it, dude?”

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The municipality of Rotterdam has now announced that it will increase supervision in the district. The council would not say how.

On Wednesday afternoon, the municipality and the police will hold a meeting where local residents can tell their story. They also ask whether people have seen anything striking or to share video images with the police.

“People are getting scared. I think a lot of people want to leave here,” Henk concludes. “I sometimes walk the dog here at night, but I won’t do that again. I’ll walk the dog somewhere else.”

For the safety of local residents, we have left out the (surname) names of the interviewees from this article.

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