An explosion in The Hague which killed at least five people could be linked to the Mocro Mafia, according to reports.
Rescue workers are still combing through the wreckage of the explosion and resulting inferno in a bid to recover bodies from the blast that levelled five homes early Saturday, but the number of people possibly still buried in the debris is unknown.
Five bodies have so far been pulled out of the husk of the three-storey apartment block. One person was hauled out still alive and rushed to hospital.
‘We cannot yet say whether this incident is drug-related, but that is being investigated,’ chief public prosecutor officer Margreet Froberg told reporters.
Froberg and The Hague police chief Karin Krukkert refused to say why investigators believe the incident was linked to the criminal underworld, according to NL Times.
Similar comments were made by Dutch justice and security minister David van Weel, who told local outlet De Telegraaf that the Netherlands had a ‘huge problem’ with explosions.
There have reportedly been several incidents in the Netherlands in which criminal drug gangs tried to intimidate rival dealers with bomb attacks.
The Dutch-Moroccan Mocro Mafia had recently moved its criminal activities to Germany, where bomb attacks, torture and murders were attributed to the criminal entity, according to tabloid Bild.
Emergency services search for victims under rubble in Tarwekamp, The Hague, the Netherlands, December 8, 2024, following an explosion that caused havoc and destroyed several homes
Emergency services search for victims a day after a fire and an explosion that partially collapsed a residential building in The Hague on December 8, 2024
A burnt out car is pictured near the explosion site in The Hague
‘What caused the explosion is still unknown. What is clear to us is that there are indications that it is a crime,’ Froberg said at the press conference.
‘What these indications are, we cannot yet share in the interest of the investigation. As soon as we can, we will of course do so.’
Authorities confirmed that there are a total of four injured people in hospital but they said the intensity of the blaze made identifying victims only possible via DNA records.
This in turn complicated calculations as to how many people could still be missing in the disaster.
Krukkert said investigations were focused on a car seen speeding away from the scene shortly after the explosion at 6.15am on Saturday.
‘Clearly, we would very much like to speak to the driver of this vehicle,’ she said, although the link between the car and the building explosion remained unclear.
A burnt-out vehicle was discovered near crime scene, with investigators probing whether it is related to the explosion, according to local media.
Two separate teams have been established, one to identify victims and another to investigate what caused the explosion, Krukkert said, warning the probe would last a long time.
Half the flats have collapsed following the explosion, with a wardrobe being the last thing standing in one of the flats (pictured above)
The Hague’s Mayor Jan van Zanen (L), local police chief Karin Krukkert (2R) and chief public prosecutor Margreet Froberg address a press conference in the City Hall about the explosions and fire at Tarwekamp, The Hague, Netherlands, December 8, 2024
Rescuers carry a body found at the site of a partially collapsed building after a fire and an explosion, in The Hague
A view of damaged buildings following an explosion in a residential building on Tarwekamp in The Hague, Netherlands, on December 7, 2024
Four of the five victims have since been identified as a 31-year-old man from Voorburg, a 45-year-old man from The Hague and two women aged 17 and 41, also both from The Hague, local media reports.
City mayor Jan van Zanen said the elite recovery teams working on site were scouring the basements of the collapsed building in a final bid to locate bodies.
He said that work should be completed overnight or early Monday morning.
‘We are witnessing an unprecedented disaster here… the suffering is incalculable,’ the mayor said.
Van Zanen praised the solidarity of his city’s citizens, including a crowdfunding effort that has garnered more than £250,000 (300,000 euros) from more than 10,000 people.
The three-storey building consisted of shops on the ground floors and five two-storey apartments, authorities said, with living rooms on the second floor and bedrooms on the top.
Residents told local media the apartment block was mainly inhabited by elderly people and families with children.
Around 40 residents of other blocks near the collapsed building have been evacuated. Some have been taken away by bus to an unknown location.
The incident has rocked the Netherlands with the King and Queen issuing a statement on the tragedy
Pictured above is the damage to one shop near the explosion site
Rescuers carry a body found at the site of a partially collapsed building after a fire and an explosion, in The Hague, The Netherlands, December 7, 2024
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof (C) and Justice and Security Minister David van Weel (R) visit the disaster site on the Tarwekamp, The Hague, Netherlands, December 8, 2024
Froberg, chief public prosecutor officer, described the events that rocked the city before daybreak on Saturday as ‘unimaginable and terrible.’
‘One moment you are lying quietly in your warm bed and the next moment total chaos and destruction,’ she said.
The incident has rocked the Netherlands, with the King and Queen issuing a statement on the tragedy.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima said: ‘Our thoughts are with those affected in The Hague after the explosion and fire this morning.
‘Including those who are afraid of the fate of their loved ones.’
Prime Minister Dick Schoof said in a statement he was shocked by the images of the disaster. ‘My thoughts go out to the victims, all other people involved, and the emergency services who are now working on the scene,’ he said.
National police commissioner Janny Knol said there was ‘disbelief and uncertainty’ in the community.