Blast at coronavirus testing centre in Dutch, police say it's 'intentional'

A blast at coronavirus testing centre in the Netherlands was "intentionally targeted", reported Aljazeera quoting local police. The blast happened on March 3 before 7AM at a COVID-19 testing centre north of Amsterdam that shattered windows. Nobody was injured in the explosion, police said in a statement. At the time of the explosion, there was one security guard inside the building but the person remained safe, reported Aljazeera.

Explosion in coronavirus testing centre

Police are investigating the cause of the blast and in the meantime, they have cordoned off the area which is 60 kilometres north of Amsterdam, reported AP. Police spokesman Menno Hartenberg said it was clear that the explosive didn’t “get there by accident". He added that the police are investigating the cause of the blast and it was unclear when the facility would reopen. A metal cylinder that exploded was found inside the building, reported AP quoting police. The government and health officials of the Netherlands condemned the attack on the coronavirus test centre. 

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Health Minister Hugo de Jonge has called the blast a "cowardly act". "For over a year now, we have relied heavily on the people on the front lines. And then this. Insane", read a part of a tweet by the health minister. The northern regions of North Holland province have been identified as virus hotspot for the last few weeks. Some COVID-19 restrictions were eased on March 3 with hairdressers and other "contact professions" allowed to reopen. The government had allowed non-essential shops to reopen after December. 

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Explosion in supermarket in December

In December 2020, an explosion had damaged a Polish supermarket in a Dutch town near Amsterdam. It was the third such blast in two days. Police had said that the explosion happened at a store in the town of Beverwijk, 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Amsterdam. Nobody got injured during the explosion at that time. 

(Inputs from AP)