One person has died and several others were wounded in an explosion at the Netherlands' Rotterdam port on Thursday, a Rotterdam police spokesperson said, adding that the cause of the blast remains unclear and under investigation.
In a statement posted on X, Rotterdam police said: "An explosion occurred on the Moezelweg (road) around 11:30am (0930 GMT). We are investigating how this happened".
They further confirmed: "The crime scene has been cordoned off."
Simultaneously, Gunvor Energy, which operates oil product storage tanks in the same area near the port, reported a separate "incident" during maintenance activity on Thursday morning that left at least several people injured, a spokesperson said.
"We are cooperating with local authorities," the spokesperson for Gunvor said.
Earlier on Thursday, local media reported that several power outages had affected Rotterdam port.
A port spokesperson later stated that there was no link between the explosion and power outages. The spokesperson also said that the explosion had no impact on the working of the LNG terminals at the port, while confirming that the blast occurred at a Gunvor Energy storage facility.
The Rotterdam port, which is the largest in Europe, includes an oil refinery and multiple petrochemicals facilities.
A spokesperson for the oil and gas company Shell confirmed the explosion “has not impacted Shell's operation”.
More to follow...