There have been dozens of explosions in Den Bosch since July. This often happened at houses and vehicles of roofers. It is a complex series of attacks that the police and municipality have difficulty getting to grips with. In this overview you can read what has happened so far.
July 16
A loud bang in broad daylight. An explosive has exploded at a house on Willem Barentszstraat in Den Bosch. No one knows yet that it is the starting signal for a series of attacks aimed at roofers in the area.
August 1
A second attack and a third attack on the house on Willem Barentszstraat in Den Bosch.
August 3
During the third attack on Willem Barentszstraat, a hole is blown in the front door. It is now clear that a roofing company is registered at the address.
August 24
After an explosion at the beginning of August, the summer month continues without too many incidents. Until the 24th. An explosive goes off at the house of a roofer at the Leyhof in Den Bosch. A little further on, an attempt is also being made to set the roofer’s aerial platform on fire. The enormous explosion was captured on camera.
August 27
It happened again at the roofer’s house at the Leyhof. A third explosive goes off near him. The number of explosions now stands at six.
September 11
It’s the most restless night yet. Three explosives go off during the night from Wednesday to Thursday. The first at a house on the Sluisweg in Den Bosch. Shortly afterwards, explosives go off at two different company buses on Wethouder van Soestbergenstraat, where a roofer lives. Local residents are talking about ‘not normal loud bangs.’ The front of one of the buses is torn to smithereens
September 17
“The banging season is open.” For the first time, a roofer tells his story in detail about the series of explosions that are plaguing the roofing industry. Roofer Ali Katkay (36) says that several ‘understandings’ are being fought. Possession of addresses and cutthroat competition would be the reason for the series of attacks.
READ ALSO: ‘Blasting season has opened’, Ali opens a book about ‘roofing war’
October 3
Once again, a roofer’s commercial vehicle goes up in flames. This time on the Elzenstraat in Den Bosch. It is the company bus of a 23-year-old entrepreneur. His father, who is employed by his son, says there is “no roofing war at all.” “My son is 23 years old. He has no enemies. He started at the age of nineteen, if there was a war it would have happened before.” Local residents do not dare to respond to the fire for fear of more attacks.
October 9
Broken windows and a destroyed front door. Around a quarter to ten in the evening, an explosive goes off at the back of a house at Wibauthof in Den Bosch. Shortly afterwards, a front door of a house on Amsterdamstraat in the city is targeted. It is striking that only the address at Wibauthof has a roofer registered. A relative of the roofer may live on Amsterdamstraat.
October 11
Explosive number fourteen in the roofing war goes off near a car at the Eerste Slagen in Den Bosch. The roofer who owns the car had just arrived in his company bus when he saw his car go up in flames. The police have now announced that they are finding it difficult to get a grip on the series of attacks. They have almost daily meetings with the Public Prosecution Service and the mayor of Den Bosch about the issue.
READ ALSO: Roofers’ war: police find it difficult to get a grip on the wave of explosions
October 17
Once again an explosive goes off at a roofer’s house. This time it is the Second Battles in Den Bosch. The front door window could not survive the impact.
October 20
For a second time, the police return to the Amsterdamstraat in the city. Another explosive has exploded there. That same day, a roofer’s company bus was destroyed, which was parked on the Schaarhuispad. Not much later, a 19-year-old man is arrested for allegedly damaging the company bus. He is released the morning after his arrest
READ ALSO: Man (19) arrested for explosion at roofer’s bus
October 25
The many explosions affecting roofers do not deter new competition. More than 350 roofers were already registered in Den Bosch and more have been added recently. There are now more than three times as many roofers in Den Bosch as in Eindhoven (136) or Tilburg (106).
November 3
The police are at a loss. The police chief of East Brabant says in an interview with Omroep Brabant that the roofing war requires a lot of capacity from the police. He is also afraid that an explosion will soon prove fatal.
READ ALSO: Roofer war demands a lot of police capacity: ‘It is very complex’
November 14
In the early morning, a father (43) and a son (22) are arrested. The two are arrested by the police in their homes in the Graafsewijk in Den Bosch. Father and son both work in the roofing industry. The police suspect them of involvement in ‘one or more violent incidents in Den Bosch in recent months’.
READ ALSO: Arrests in roofers’ war: father (43) and son (22) arrested
November 15
The night after the arrest it happened again. At half past four at night, a roofer’s van is seriously damaged by illegal fireworks. Nobody gets hurt. According to the roofer’s wife, her husband is employed by a company.
READ ALSO: Another explosion at a roofer in Den Bosch, the day after arrests
November 18
The father and son who were arrested on November 14 are released. The two still remain suspects.
December 16
Police arrest an underage boy who may have been involved in the explosion on October 20. That same evening, a 19-year-old man from Den Bosch was arrested. The new suspect is 14 years old.
READ ALSO: Explosion at roofer’s bus: underage boy arrested
December 25
There is another explosion. A roofer at the Leyhof became the victim of an attack for the fourth time on Christmas night. An attack has already been carried out three times before: on February 21, August 24 and August 27. The first time a company van went up in flames, the second and third time there was an explosion.
READ ALSO: Another explosion at a roofer, hit for the fourth time
More about the roofer war:
More about the explosives used: