House explosion in Meppel: ‘We don’t know much yet, but it was a big hit’

There was an explosion last night at a house on Willem de Poorterstraat in Meppel.

The house is badly damaged. “The explosion completely damaged the back facade of the house and the front facade of the house was destroyed,” said police spokesman Tessel Horsman, who was present at the house last night.

Woonconcept director Marcel van Halteren, who rents the house, says he is shocked by the incident in Meppel. “We don’t know much yet, but it’s been a big hit,” he said.

Several local residents told a reporter from RTV Drenthe that they strongly suspect that the affected home is a drug house. They say that they have reported this several times to authorities, including Woonconcept, and they are surprised that ‘this has not been taken seriously before’.

Director Van Halteren cannot confirm whether Woonconcept was aware of this situation on Willem de Poorterstraat. “As a housing association, we have a reporting role. In general, I can say that residents can accept that we take reports seriously. We then submit them to the police and contacting them directly,” he explains.