The Hague: A three-story apartment block in The Hague partially collapsed Saturday after a fire and explosion, firefighters said, with first responders searching for people under the rubble.
“At this moment, the emergency services are busy rescuing and searching for people and fighting the fire,” said the city’s fire service in a statement.
It was not known how many people could be missing nor what caused the explosion in the block of flats not far from the center of the city.
According to local media outlet Regio15, several people had already been rescued from the scene.
Four people injured in the explosion had been taken to local hospitals, according to the fire service.
“The fire is releasing a lot of smoke in the immediate vicinity... Residents are advised to close windows and doors and turn off ventilation,” authorities said.
The city’s mayor Jan van Zanen was on site to coordinate rescue efforts, according to Regio15.
Homes on multiple floors appeared to have been destroyed by the explosion, said Regio15.
Early images from public broadcaster NOS showed several dozen firefighters tackling a large blaze and breaking down doors to gain access to the block.
A picture from local news agency ANP showed one person being led away on a stretcher into a waiting ambulance.
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Apartment block in The Hague ‘partially collapsed’ after explosion: authorities
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Apartment block in The Hague ‘partially collapsed’ after explosion: authorities
- It was not known how many people could be missing nor what caused the explosion in the block of flats not far from the center of the city
Zelensky says meeting with Trump to happen ‘in the near future’
KYIV: A meeting with US President Donald Trump will happen “in the near future,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, signaling progress in talks to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.
“We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“A lot can be decided before the New Year,” he added.
Zelensky’s announcement came after he said Thursday he had a “good conversation” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelensky said Tuesday he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70 percent of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.
On the ground, Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it struck a major Russian oil refinery Thursday using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region. “Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukrainian power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Kyiv officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
“We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“A lot can be decided before the New Year,” he added.
Zelensky’s announcement came after he said Thursday he had a “good conversation” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelensky said Tuesday he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70 percent of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.
On the ground, Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it struck a major Russian oil refinery Thursday using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region. “Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukrainian power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Kyiv officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
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