An explosion led to a fierce house fire in the center of Oosterhout on Friday evening. A woman was seriously injured and was rushed to the Burn Center in Rotterdam. The enormous impact caused the front wall to fly out of the wall and literally land on the street.
The explosion occurred around ten past twelve in a terraced house on the Langenhof, parallel to the Strijenstraat. The explosion was soon followed by a blaze that burst from the front door and windows. The fire brigade deployed large equipment, such as three fire engines, an aerial platform and special vehicles for water transport.
‘Gas explosion or heavy fireworks’
According to a spokeswoman for the Safety Region, the fire was probably caused by a ‘gas explosion or possibly by heavy fireworks’, but she has no clarity about this. “The police are of course investigating this. We are not assuming an attack or anything like that. There is no reason for that.”
First there was an explosion, followed by a number of loud bangs
Local resident Langenhof
The house is one in a block of nine houses. The adjacent buildings suffered significant damage. All residents in the row had to leave their homes, although those in five homes were able to return to their homes around two o’clock after an inspection by the fire brigade. Others have to spend the night elsewhere.
Fire attracts a lot of attention
A local resident says he was not at home when the explosion occurred. “My parents were and they called me immediately. What I understand is that there was first an explosion, followed by a number of loud bangs.” According to the man, the victim ran from her house with serious injuries immediately after the explosion.
Local residents took care of the woman until the emergency services arrived. Around 1:20 am, the Safety Region reported that the fire appeared to be under control, but the fire control signal did not follow until half an hour later. The damage was extensive in the affected house.
It’s terrible that this happened. First and foremost, of course, for the resident of the house where the fire broke out
Mark Buijs, mayor of Oosterhout
Mayor Mark Buijs took stock and talked to residents of the Langenhof: “It is terrible that this happened. First and foremost, of course, for the resident of the house where the fire broke out. In addition, people who live nearby are extremely shocked.”
Mayor reassures local residents
He tried to reassure local residents. “And we ensure that everyone has a good place to sleep tonight. Most go to family, and if it turns out that there are still people who have nowhere to go, we will arrange accommodation for them,” Buijs promises.
The fire released a lot of smoke. The Strijenstraat, parallel to the Langenhof, was closed to all traffic for a long time. After the fire was under control and a number of local residents were allowed to go home, the street was reopened. What exactly exploded remains under further investigation.
Unfortunately, we cannot show this social post, live blog or otherwise because it contains one or more social media elements. Accept the social media cookies to still show this content.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.
