On Friday evening, just after 18.00, a huge gas explosion took place in a new residential area in Urk, the Netherlands. A row of six houses were (partly) destroyed by the explosion and the resulting fire. Two houses collapsed before the fire brigade and ambulance arrived. A second explosion took place shortly after help arrived.

Six people were injured with three taken to hospital and two already released. This morning Mayor Pieter van Maaren told Radio 1-Journaal that it is a miracle nobody died as a result of the explosion. Van Maaren told Dutch broadcaster NOS that the explosion may have been caused by gas accumulation inside the sewer. It is still unclear however what caused it, and he hopes that research into the cause will offer answers soon.

    

After around 19.30 the fire was under control. All houses in an area of 200 meters were evacuated. The nearby gas leak has been cut off by supplier Liander. For this reason, 25 houses are temporarily without gas. According to Liander, due to work being performed on the sewer at the time, a gas pipe was hit which caused the gas to seep into the sewer. Gas that was released accumulated, eventually causing the explosions.

A resident of Urk who lived only three houses away told Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws:

“Suddenly there was an explosion. I looked to see what happened and then I saw the first house collapsing. I hopped on my bike and went away. Then I was blown off my bike. We did take another look, but we had to go away from the area. I do think there is some damage. Everything is gone.”

A resident in the area filmed the aftermath of the explosion:

Another video by De Telegraaf:

Not just in the Netherlands

Gas explosions seem to occur more often. To name a few examples of huge gas explosions leveling buildings or houses from this year:

Feb 2016: Powerful gas explosion partly destroys residential building in Russia; 7 dead, many feared trapped

March 2016: Huge gas explosion in Seattle levels two buildings and blows out windows half a block away

April 2016: Home reduced to rubble after gas explosion in Birmingham, UK

SOTT editor Gary Boyle gave a possible explanation of (at least some of) these gas explosions in the following article:

SOTT Exclusive: More mysterious high-rise building explosions – is there a ‘cosmic’ source of ignition?

[…] So, Chelyabinsk-type events, whether on a much smaller scale or indeed larger, can produce tremendous bursts of energy to certain areas on the ground. This phenomenon, largely ignored by mainstream sources, could well be the ‘spark’ that ignites some of these gas leaks in the high-rise buildings, resulting in powerful explosions and subsequent fires. Perhaps these tall buildings act as ‘lightning rods’, as industrial plumes similarly seem to act, by holding an electric charge opposite to incoming space rocks and their particular electrical discharges. Additional indicators of increased electrical activity manifesting nowadays are the more intense lightning storms and higher lightning fatalities reported around the world.