What started about ten years ago in Amsterdam with hand grenades to intimidate coffee shop owners has quickly grown into a widely used method of violence: the home explosion. The hand grenade from back then is now a fireworks bomb. In 2025, there was a boom in explosions that seriously affected the sense of security among citizens. On average, an attack with a fireworks bomb was committed or attempted four times a day.
“The rise of the fireworks bomb shows how quickly crime is innovating.” This applies to the material used: the highly explosive flash powder from heavy fireworks such as the Cobra, whether or not in combination with gasoline. And also for the way in which underage attackers are often recruited: via social media such as Snapchat or Instagram. “They don’t know the clients, nor do their victims,” says De Beukelaer.
said De Beukelaer, who is involved on behalf of the Public Prosecution Service Offensive against explosionsa working group led by Rotterdam mayor Carola Schouten that has been working for a year now.
No one knows exactly how many people have become victims of all that violence, because this form of crime is registered under different categories. Moreover, local residents who have no direct material damage but have been traumatized by an explosion are not yet registered as victims.
Victim Support Netherlands suspects that this concerns several thousand victims per year. These are not precise figures either, but the demand for help has risen sharply in recent years, says Rika Koning. She has conducted discussions with victims in the past and now advises Victim Support employees on complex cases.
The trauma for victims runs deep and in processing it they all have to deal with distrust and bureaucracy, according to conversations with four victims in different parts of the Netherlands. Koning recognizes those stories, which are described here in general terms because of the sensitivity of the situation in which the affected people find themselves.
Statements from victims in a major criminal investigation confirm this picture, as do a number of court rulings. It court in Amsterdam stated this spring that the wave of fireworks bombs undermines citizens’ confidence in the investigation because “
1. The bang
After the explosion, people all react differently to the panic that arises when they see shattered glass, torn out doors or the smell of fire, says Koning of Victim Support Netherlands. One calls 911, the other runs into the street. Some freeze, others look for a fire extinguisher.
“When I saw that a fire had broken out, I ran inside to look for my two cats,” says a victim. “That took so long that I almost fainted due to lack of oxygen. With the blackness in front of my eyes, I hit the window for help. That fear, that panic, I will never forget.”
After that, disbelief and despair fight for priority among almost everyone. Is this an accident? Or am I the victim of an attack?
It leads to a deep sense of insecurity and fear. Who’s targeting me? And: will they come back again? “When we understood that the bomb was intended for a criminal neighbor, we immediately said: that means they will come back,” says a couple. “No one believed us until a day later another bomb went off, this time not with us but with that neighbor. We suffered no damage and yet the blow hit even harder. Since then we no longer dare to leave our children at home alone.”
Victim Support suspects that this concerns several thousand victims per year
De Beukelaer is surprised about the long-suffering attitude towards fireworks in the Netherlands. ” says De Beukelaer. “It is very dangerous. And yet such a Cobra is not a deterrent at all. It is and many people underestimate the risks.”
According to him, it explains why these boxes are almost unsuspectingly sent by post on a large scale or brought into the country by vans. detonating a van with 1,800 cobras packed in boxes. On the images you see that nothing remains of that van and two cars parked near it.”
The experiment was so dangerous that it was carried out in Germany because no safe location could be found in the Netherlands. “But in the last months of the year, cars and vans drive back and forth with these types of boxes of fireworks,” says De Beukelaer. “That will go very wrong at some point, but I wonder if everyone is aware of that danger.”
2. Distrust
Because perpetrators and clients are rarely found immediately, the police investigate several scenarios. And that leads to difficult questions, also for the victims. Do they have enemies? Are they active in the criminal environment? Is there a dispute in the relational or business sphere? Or was the bomb really intended for someone else?
“You are robbed of your sense of security in your own home and live in fear,” says one victim. “And then the question arises whether you yourself did not cause the attack. Rationally you understand that the police should ask those questions, but doubt and distrust lead to extra stress at such a moment.”
The idea that people have caused the violence feels like a denial of their victimhood, says Rika Koning of Victim Support. “That distrust hits people who have lost their secure base and is looking for peace and quiet. It leads to shame: what will people think?”
In the Meidoornstraat in Rotterdam, a house was hit three times by an explosive in eight days.
Photo ANP
„ „For them it is just like gaming. The job is a challenge. This characterizes the digital world of young people. In that world there is quicker contact with people involved in crime. The threshold is low, contact with the client is not physical. It often involves exploitation of boys who are also used for robberies and other serious violence.
“These perpetrators, there are examples of 12-year-olds, do not understand the consequences of their actions. We now see that young people who say yes to the question whether they want to earn a few hundred euros are picked up within half an hour. Then they cannot go back.”
About 700 explosion perpetrators were arrested in 2024 and 2025. A significant number, according to De Beukelaer. “But finding the intermediaries and the clients is a priority. Due to strict agreements with the police on a uniform working method, we are able to recognize patterns and identify key players. But they all use a nickname on social media. That is why it is difficult to identify these suspects.”
For young performers it’s like gaming. The job is a challenge
De Beukelaer does notice that companies behind social media platforms are becoming more aware of their role in this problem. “At the beginning of this year I noticed a lot of resistance from them. They are now also thinking about the way in which young people are recruited via their platforms. For example, they are investigating whether algorithms can be adjusted in such a way that…
3. The settlement
have lost everything due to fire or are unable to get into their home and therefore not to their belongings – sometimes for a long time. They have to deal with numerous authorities: the insurance company, the housing association, the municipality, the damage appraiser. “I was standing on the street without belongings and had nothing. The first night I slept with family, then I was put up in a hotel,” says a victim.
“I received a few hundred euros for those first days, then I had to figure it out myself. But I slept poorly, had nightmares and eventually had to take sleeping medication to calm down. Then it is very difficult to stand up for yourself. Moreover, you do not get answers to many questions. I stopped studying because of concentration problems. And I was also left with 8,000 euros in damages.”
Even people who are well insured are sometimes left with financial residual damage, according to Rika Koning of Victim Support. And for those who are uninsured, that amount can increase. “What if you can no longer return to your home? Who will bear the costs of moving and furnishing a new home? What if you are disabled for a long time due to physical or emotional injury and cannot work?”
Victims are helped on their way, but are then often dependent on a criminal case against a suspect, according to Koning. “Only then can they submit a claim for damages.” These cases often take a long time and even if a claim is granted, it does not mean that all damages will be compensated, she says.
For example, if a suspect is only convicted of arson, the state will advance a maximum of 5,000 euros of an awarded damages claim. One is in the works better settlement, but at the moment a victim has to collect it himself. If the suspects are very young, a victim sometimes has to hold parents liable themselves. Koning: “The aftermath is uncertain, complicated and is experienced by victims as a double punishment.”
It is very important to prevent people from feeling like they are alone
The Netherlands is a country of rules, De Beukelaer notes. “Someone who does not fit neatly into a box will soon be bothered by the bureaucracy. That is sometimes very difficult to explain.” It Offensive against explosions tries to stand up for victims. The starting point when prosecuting suspects is to cause an explosion with danger to goods and people, says De Beukelaer. “This carries a four-year prison sentence and, if convicted, victims are eligible for a full advance on an approved compensation claim.”
And if the circumstances show that people have been in immediate danger, an attempt at manslaughter or murder will be added, according to De Beukelaer. “But that is sometimes difficult to prove, for example when people are sleeping upstairs when a Cobra goes off in front of their door. Was there any immediate danger due to the distance between the front door and bedroom? You sometimes see that the legal reality is far removed from what victims have experienced.”
Then there is a group of indirect victims who have not suffered material damage but live near a place where a fireworks bomb went off. They too can suffer trauma from an explosion. “It is very important to prevent people from feeling like they are alone.”
A good example of this is the initiative ‘After the bang in collaboration with Victim Support Netherlands. Residents living near an explosion can talk to people trained by Victim Support who have experienced an explosion in the past. “That is accessible and helps,” says Koning of Victim Support.
According to De Beukelaer, the irony is that the use of fireworks bombs has spread to Belgium and Germany, where many fireworks are stored illegally in the Netherlands. “It is not intended to be cynical, but the fact that they are now also experiencing cobra attacks there helps with the European discussion about stricter legislation. We need this to take effective action against the fireworks trade.”
4. Scar
Even when everything has been restored and people resume their lives, the memory of the blow lies close to the surface. “In the beginning I was shocked by the alarm of a car or a scooter in the street, or the siren of the fire brigade,” says a victim who lives in a large city. “And even now, more than a year later, I startle when I see the first fireworks around the holidays.”
A couple who were victims of a fireworks bomb still have difficulty talking about it after more than a year, even with each other. “We prefer to avoid the subject, even though you know that doesn’t necessarily help,” says one of them.
“It feels so powerless that you cannot protect your family.” Her husband nods, fighting back tears. “Now that I see him, angry and sad because of the powerlessness he experiences, my whole body starts to shake. As if that bomb has just gone off.”
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