Gym on Coolsingel evicted after major fire in sauna, at least 40 athletes on the street | Rotterdam

The emergency services were called around 10:20 p.m. that a fire had broken out in the sauna of the gym, on the first floor. Once on site, a window was broken to extinguish the fire. The fire released a lot of smoke, which could be smelled all over the Coolsingel area. Ventilating the building took hours. After the fire, many people in sportswear could still be seen on the street.

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There was a lot of smoke from the sauna, and clearly no steam

Athlete Alex

It was clear to the athletes that they had to leave the building quickly, 21-year-old Alex says. He was playing sports when the fire broke out. ,,The fire alarm went off. There was a lot of smoke coming out of the sauna at the same time, and clearly no steam. Not much later I heard someone say that flames could be seen there,” he says, still wearing his sportswear. He stands in the street with a foil warming blanket wrapped around him. In his hand he has a bag full of snacks from the McDonald’s nearby. ,,We still have to wait a while, and I can’t go home. My house keys and other belongings are still in a safe.”

The cause of the fire is not yet known, said a spokesperson for the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Safety Region. “It may be that it has a technical cause, for example in the equipment of the sauna. But we can’t say anything meaningful about that right now.”

No one was injured. “One person was checked in the ambulance, who may have been shocked by what happened.”

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