Several homes in Torenlaan in Assen were evacuated tonight due to a gas leak. This arose after a copper theft in an empty building in that street, the police reported.
“The initial investigation on site shows that the gas leak was caused by a copper theft from an empty house that was broken into,” the police write on Twitter. The burglary is believed to have happened in the past 24 hours.
Residents of Torenlaan had to temporarily leave their homes due to the gas leak, but have since returned to their homes. The entire street has now been reopened. The emergency services, including the fire brigade who carried out measurements in the vacant building, have almost all left the center again.