A 63-year-old man is fighting for his life in hospital after a possible car bomb explosion in Breda. The man, described as being ‘known to the police’, lost an arm and a leg in the blast which took place on Wednesday evening.

Police say the most likely cause of the explosion is a bomb. Windows in surrounding houses were shattered by the blast which took place in a residential area of the city.

Breda mayor Paul Depla has called an emergency meeting of mayors from neighbouring towns to discuss the escalating crime wave in the region, the Telegraaf says on Thursday afternoon.

‘I want to know the cause of all this, so we can tackle it properly,’ he told the paper.

The Telegraaf named the victim as Breda resident Chris van Esch and said the police are treating the incident as an attempted gangland killing.

Last year, an extra 125 police officers were temporarily reassigned to tackling organised crime in the south of the country, focusing on marijuana plantations, synthetic drug labs and motorbike gangs.