Residents of the Breda district of Hoge Vucht still have to recover from the enormous amount of helium and nitrous oxide that was found on Wednesday. Three thousand liters of helium were discovered in a garage on Loenhoutstraat. A little later another 150 liters of nitrous oxide was found. “We could all have been dead.”
A pregnant woman still looks in disbelief at the garage box just a few meters from her house. “I’m very close to it. I have small children. They have been put at risk unnecessarily,” says the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Torpedo
“It is extremely dangerous”, says Robert Seegers, team manager of the Breda enforcers. “Helium is not highly flammable. Those cylinders with helium are under high pressure. If one falls, it becomes a kind of torpedo that can go right through walls,” he says.
“These quantities are quite exceptional,” says Seegers. “Also, it was stored very amateurishly.” The bottles were not anchored and the room was not ventilated. 125 liters is the maximum allowed amount. The boa boss makes an appeal to continue to report suspicious situations.
Mayor Depla also responds to the enormous find via Twitter. “Thanks to an observant resident who tipped Meld Misdaad Anoniem, our boas were able to put an end to this life-threatening situation for the neighborhood.”
‘Perilous’
“The garage is between the houses,” says an elderly man with a loudly barking guard dog. “I don’t have it for nothing. Do you know what kind of neighborhood this is?” He saw the garage being emptied on Wednesday.”Such high bottles”, he points at shoulder height. “This is life-threatening! I’m glad it was reported and addressed.”
“This is very intense. There could have been a lot of damage. I’m glad it was rolled up in time,” says 26-year-old Daphne. The 62-year-old Frans adds: “If things had exploded, it would not have looked good for us.”
Nitrous oxide
The owner of the garage box told the boas that he also rents out a second garage box on the Teteringsedijk in which laughing gas was stored. The boas found 150 liters of nitrous oxide stored unsafely in this box. The maximum of 125 liters also applies here and the same strict safety rules apply.
The boas immediately confiscated the gas bottles. These will be destroyed. The municipality is still looking at what measures will be taken against the owner and the tenant of the garage boxes.