Explosions at Arnhem Catering Businesses Raise Questions About Effectiveness of Closing Down Premises

The police and the municipality of Arnhem hope that there will soon be clarity about the background to the explosions at a shopping center last night. In the Gelderland capital, explosives went off at a snack bar and a Chinese restaurant. The eatery was previously closed by mayor Marcouch. This raises the question of whether such a measure is effective in preventing violence.

In addition to the eatery, another catering business was closed after suspicious packages were found there on Thursday morning. There was a fire at the diner last year. The other case had according to Omroep Gelderland in 2020 dealing with arson, vandalism and a brawl.

There is a lot of unrest in the vicinity of the shopping center after last night’s explosions, Marcouch told NOS. “This does something to people’s sense of security and safety.”

Marcouch says he decided to close things down to restore calm. “Then there are no people present in such a case and the activity stops.” He hoped that he would not see any new attacks and that he would have time to investigate.

An explosive device also recently went off in Amsterdam at a building that had already been closed. That was at a branch of a money exchange office that has recently been hit more often by attacks, including in Rotterdam. No one was injured, but there was damage.

“You don’t know what the motives are,” says Arnhem mayor Marcouch about the explosions. The police and municipality are still investigating why the Arnhem businesses are targeted, and by whom. “I can imagine that this feels very mean to the entrepreneurs. But my choice was made because we want to prevent worse.” According to Marcouch, entrepreneurs of the shopping center on Elderveldplein also understand this.

The police say in a response that explosions like last night’s can never be completely prevented, not even by closing buildings. “We cannot be on every street corner 24 hours a day,” says a spokesperson. “Colleagues also have to provide emergency aid.”

According to the spokesperson, there is extra surveillance by the police and the municipality has installed cameras. The affected cases also had cameras themselves, on which the suspects can also be seen. “But they’re wrong about that.”