“A large number of local residents indicate that they are very shocked and very indignant about the discovery of the explosive in the storage room,” the mayor writes in the closure order.
The package was found yesterday during a police home raid. Officers were looking for a 21-year-old man suspected of a home robbery in Noordwijk. The man was arrested in the home. In the now closed cellar box, the police found what they thought looked like an explosive.
Shortly afterwards, the emergency services scaled up on a large scale: in addition to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service of Defense (EODD), several police, fire brigade and ambulance units were called up. In addition, several homes and an adjacent daycare center were evacuated. The EODD eventually managed to safely remove the explosive and defuse it.
Flash powder
Yesterday, the police could only say about the package that it was a ‘possible explosive’. The closure order now makes it clear that it was an improvised explosive device.
The letter also states that the explosive contained flash powder. Flash powder is also used for making Cobras and is known to be a very sensitive explosive substance. “The presence of such an improvised explosive device poses a life-threatening danger to bystanders,” the mayor wrote.