Antwerp was startled by an explosion for the second night in a row last night. This time, the explosion took place in the Van Daelstraat in Borgerhout District. Fortunately, nobody was injured. Earlier, on Monday night, there was an explosion in Deurne. A possible link to drug-trafficking is being investigated.
Around 3.20am last night, a loud bang could be heard in the Van Daelstraat in Borgerhout. ‘Fortunately there were no injuries and only damage to the front door,’ says Wouter Bruyns of Antwerp police.
Local resident Khalid was roused by the noise. ‘We were still asleep when we heard the explosion. At first we thought it was a gas explosion,’ he told VRT.
‘Of course we were very shocked, especially because we live in a fairly quiet street. There was no one on the street, but the police came quite quickly.’
No suspects held yet
So far, no suspects have been detained. ‘We searched the area immediately after the incident. We have not yet identified a possible suspect.’ Forensic scientists and the army bomb squad DOVO attended the scene during the night as part of the investigation.
The police are now investigating the explosion. ‘We will try to identify the perpetrator and attempt to establish the context of this incident,’ he said.
On Monday night, an explosion damaged a front door in the district of Deurne.
‘It is far too early to say whether there is a link between the two explosions. First we are going to look at both cases individually. If there is a link, it will surface during the investigation.’
A possible link to drug-trafficking is being examined.