Police have arrested four minors following a major blast at an apartment building in Heerhugowaard in Noord-Holland on Thursday evening.

Five people sustained minor injuries. An unknown number of people were evacuated and spent the night at the home of relatives or in a hotel.

The police do not think anyone is trapped under the rubble. Esdégé-Reimersdaal, a mental health care centre situated on the ground floor of the complex, said none of its clients or staff had been hurt in the blast.

Police and building experts are currently shoring up the building, which was heavily damaged in the explosion. The blast took place at 8.10 pm and was followed by a fire. It took firefighters until 11:00 pm to douse the flames, leaving a heavily scarred building and two apartments without a facade.

The area around the building has been cordoned off until the building can be made safe. Police will then start a forensic investigation into the origin of the blast.

Neighbours were shocked by the blast. “When I see this, I am surprised and relieved no one was killed,” one man told the Telegraaf. “It appears to have been a deliberate attack,” another said. “You must be completely crazy to put the lives of vulnerable people at risk. It’s an outrage,” he said.

Between 2021 and 2023 the number of explosions in the Netherlands has increased fivefold, with 70% of incidents taking place in the Randstad conurbation around Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

A revenge attack on a bridal shop in The Hague in December last year resulted in the collapse of a building, killing three members of the same family and three others, and putting four others in hospital.