Residents living near an ATM on Mierloseweg in Helmond hope that the ATM will not return after the devastating bombing on Wednesday night. According to the neighbors, there has been nuisance at the vending machine, which is open 24 hours a day, for weeks. They hope that the municipality will intervene. “How can I still feel safe?” asks a neighbor across the street.
Local residents heard a huge bang around four o’clock on Wednesday night. Then followed a second bang. The devastation in the street was enormous. Not only the ATM was completely destroyed, the bakery and hair salon in the street also suffered significant damage.
Many local residents were still scared on Thursday. “I was in a deep sleep and suddenly I hear the explosion. I can still hear the sound now,” says neighbor Filipe, shocked.
“There are weird people hanging around the ATM.”
He has been living in the apartment opposite the ATM, which has been there for about a year, for a year and a half. “You notice that there are a lot of strange people hanging around since the ATM was built. In the last two to three weeks, there have been people drinking beer, smoking weed and dealing drugs at night. I don’t feel safe anymore.”
According to him, the ATM does not only attract people who cause nuisance. Filipe thinks it is a very dangerous place for an ATM. “The vending machine is open 24 hours a day and people live right above it. Why don’t they place it in a shopping center or supermarket? It’s next to the bakery and is always open. I’ve never seen that anywhere.”
“It’s not safe.”
Filipe is considering starting a petition together with his neighbors so that the ATM does not return to the street. He hopes that the municipality will intervene. Other local residents also hope that the ATM will disappear. “It’s not safe. I hope he stays away,” said a neighbor. There is another ATM further down the street, in a shop. So the neighbors don’t have to miss an ATM.
“Normally I hear the squeaking of people using their pins, but now it was a much louder bang. I don’t think he needs to come back,” says a neighbor. His wife still suffers from a ringing in her ear and the couple’s dogs are completely upset by the loud bangs.
Another neighbor across the street, who has a view of the vending machine from his apartment, did not know what he saw on Wednesday night. He was still awake and suddenly heard a bang. When he went to look, the second blow made him recoil. His window was severely damaged. When he looked outside, he saw the perpetrators fleeing on a scooter.
The police are asking witnesses to come forward and are probably looking for two perpetrators who fled on the scooter in the direction of 2e Haagstraat.
The municipality of Helmond has not yet responded to questions.
