Part of Herestraat in Groningen was closed for hours on Wednesday evening for a police investigation. Earlier this year there were two explosions in this street at beauty salon Moï Beauty.
Around 6:15 p.m., the road between the Gedempte Zuiderdiep and the Coehoornsingel was cordoned off with police tape. Officers asked local residents to leave their homes. It is unclear exactly why. Officers on site spoke of a ‘dangerous situation’, a police spokesperson wrote on X about ‘a report that was so serious that it has been scaled up’.
Around 9:15 p.m. the tapes were removed and the road reopened. “The on-site investigation has been completed. Nothing was found at the location,” the police wrote on X.
Gang war
This part of Herestraat has been in the news more often in recent months. Bombs exploded at the beauty salon Moï Beauty in mid-September and in July. The police then made a connection with a gang war in the Winschoten region.
Jimmy’s premises searched
Around half past eight, officers searched a building three doors away from beauty salon Moï Beauty. This is where Jimmy’s is located, a kind of youth center where anyone between the ages of 12 and 27 can come in with questions about benefits, for example.
A fire truck and ambulance were ready a little further away, on the other side of the Zuiderdiep near the C&A.
‘Away from the window’
Stije Siebelink is manager of ‘Houdt van Eten’. The restaurant is across from Jimmy’s. Even though the street was closed off, he was allowed to receive guests. “Unfortunately, of the fifty reservations, only twelve showed up.” He thinks the police were expecting an explosive. The guests who were there were not allowed to sit too close to the window. “And when I stood at the window looking, we immediately received a message from the fire brigade asking if I could leave there.”