House on Van Goghlaan in Haarlem closed after series of explosions

After five explosions in just under a month, the municipality of Haarlem immediately closed a house on Vincent van Goghlaan. “It is completely unacceptable to cause insecurity with explosions. We are talking about a residential area where mainly families with children live,” said Mayor Wienen. The residents of the home are cared for in a different location.

There has been a surveillance camera on the playground in front of the apartment in question since Friday. But that did not prevent someone from throwing an explosive on the balcony of the house on the first floor last night. No traces of the explosion are visible. The window of the house in question is covered with a cloth.

Downstairs, the forensic investigation service is conducting trace evidence. The question to the officers whether the snow hinders them in their work remains unanswered. They are absorbed in their work. “It’s not the police’s fault,” said a man who lives in a nearby apartment complex. “We see police very often. When bailiffs do their work here, and that often happens, they are accompanied by officers.”

Drain

Despite regular police surveillance, he says, dealing continues. “That used to happen in Schalkwijk, but you see a shift to Parkwijk. We have become the drain of Haarlem here.” He does not know who lives at the address where a bomb has exploded for the fifth time. ”I do not know them. I think they are foreigners. There’s a lot of friction in that apartment. That’s going completely wrong again!”

Another man walking by and looking at the security camera says that’s the solution. “That will scare them off,” he says. When he hears that something did explode last night, he shakes his head. “Let’s hope they catch the perpetrator as soon as possible.”

Highly explosive

A woman shopping on Beatrixplein heard the crash last night. According to her, that can only mean one thing: that it was a heavy explosive. She lives in one of the tower blocks on Leonard Springerlaan, a few hundred meters away. “It must have been a settlement,” she suspects. “Am I worried? Not for my own safety. So I live a while away. You get used to it a bit. When we hear a bang, we say to each other: it will be the Vincent van Goghlaan again. are.”

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