Covid-19 test centre hit by explosion in the Netherlands
3 March 2021, 09:06 | Updated: 3 March 2021, 09:19
A Covid-19 testing centre in the Netherlands has been rocked by an explosion today with police saying they believe the blast was intentional.
Police in the town of Bovenkarspel said they were investigating what is thought to be a deliberate attack in which a metal object exploded outside the testing centre, shattering windows.
“What we're saying is that something like that doesn't just happen by accident, it has to be laid,” police spokesman Menno Hartenberg said after the blast shortly before 7am on Wednesday.
No-one was hurt in the incident. Police in the province of North Holland, 40 miles north of the capital, tweeted that "an explosive went off", and quickly cordoned off the area.
A probe into the cause of the blast is under way.
In January, rioters torched a coronavirus test facility in the fishing village of Urk on the first night of a 9pm-4.30am nationwide curfew imposed as part of the government's latest coronavirus lockdown.
A nationwide curfew has led to riots in major Dutch cities.
