Well-attended meeting for Tarwekamp residents, ‘it was very nice’

A week after the explosions at the Tarwekamp, ​​a private meeting was held in the Adventist Church in The Hague for local residents and emergency workers. It was well attended: more than 200 local residents attended the meeting.

The flag flew at half-mast outside the church. Mayor Van Zanen and councilor Robert Barker were also at the two-hour meeting, which had no program.

Van Zanen said in advance that he mainly wanted to provide a listening ear. “It was very informal,” he said afterwards. “Everyone was sharing suffering, sharing sadness, looking for solutions and supporting each other a little.”

According to initiator Patricia Dinkela, there was a great need in the neighborhood to come together. “We wanted to provide a place for that.”

Attendees described the meeting as beautiful and emotional:

“It was very beautiful, very special,” says a woman who lives opposite the crash site. “I noticed that I also needed it. Every day I come home and the first thing I see is the hole. I am confronted with it every time. It is almost impossible to describe what that does to you.”

Four men have been arrested for the explosions at the Tarwekamp. They are suspected of arson and causing an explosion. They are also suspected of setting a car on fire.

Lawyer Gerard Spong represents one of the suspects. He said he was hit by “some kind of cyber attack” last night. In just a few minutes, the lawyer received more than 10,000 emails in his inbox. Spong has reported threats.

A fireworks ban applies around the disaster site at Tarwekamp during New Year’s Eve. Several local residents had requested this from the municipality of The Hague. “The explosions at the Tarwekamp have affected the entire neighborhood.

People need time to process the events,” says Councilor Barker. According to him, the neighborhood will get the necessary rest thanks to a fireworks ban.