I am impressed

[michelletje]

There was a big disaster in my city in the
Netherlands this afternoon.
A fireworks factory has exploded and killed
20 people and also 250 are injured, thank god
that there weren't more casualties.
This factory was settled in a community.
The bang was so big that about 100 houses
where destroyed many broken windows al over the city etc it looks like war.
I've seen the other side of fireworks.
Maybe this is off topic but I had to tell this because its on my mind.

Michelletje

[Warthog]

Here is the story at the Communist News Network: http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/05/13/netherlands.explosion.ap/index.html

Impressive picture.

Warthog

[akaBruno]

My aunt called earlier and left a message about your disaster. Being half Dutch myself, it feels close to home. On behalf of the (very large) Dutch community here in Iowa, our hearts and prayers go out to all there.

[michelletje]

Hello warthog and akabruno

Thanks for you're support.
Here are some streaming movies: http://www.omroep.nl/nos/nieuws/binnenland/nieuws/2000/mei/130500/explosie.html
The first one is a live footage of the disaster, the first explosions filmed at 20m
from the factory.
The second one is after the disaster.
See the other side of fireworks.

Michelletje

[tonym]

My sympathies are with the families of those who were killed and my prayers are with the injured.

I'm not trying to be funny, but I love Grolsch beer and I hear that the factory was damaged or partially destroyed by the explosion. Is this true??

But beer is insignifcant to the people who have suffered in this catastrophe. Why was this obviously dangerous factory located so close to so many people (rhetorical question)?

Sorry for the tired ranting...


Tony

[narayan]

Communist News Network....LOL

[grandslammer]

When I was a kid in the Ohio valley, the fireworks factory there blew up. It blew out windows literally for miles, and you could feel the blast 20 miles away!

So, I can imagine what that felt like.

We'll include all of those people in our prayers tonight........

M

[Andy_L]

I, too was saddened to hear the news. It may well be the factory was there first, not every country has mafia-like zoning laws like the US.

[Ultima]

Hey Michelletje,

It was really nasty what happened there!!
Luckely I don't have any relatives living in that city, I do closeby, but not in Enschede itself!!!
I hope for you you didn't either??!!

Makes ya wonder how these things can happen??!!

Pim

[michelletje]

Again thanks a lot for al youre interest
That factory had all the license and al the safety measure even from the military forces
and the sad thing is that they should move to somewhere else in 2002.
Many people in my city about 80% didn't know
that there was a fireworks factory.
I saw movies and pictures of iron containers
where the fire works where in lying around a circle of 200 m from the blast, concrete around 500 m form the blast.
I even felt the destructive shock wave of the
3 blasts.
For the beer lovers, grolsh does not know if they could supply for the summer.

Michelletje

[thekingofpain]

Why on earth would they store a 100 tons of explosives in a residential area???
Lesson sadly learned I guess...

[ceedee]

very sorry to hear about it
makes you wonder
there is a similar but smaller factory near where i live
i have visited it myself to buy fireworks
it is right in the center of a town
never thought about it before in this way
scary

[brandon184]

I saw this on cnn.com the other.. I really didn't remember how powerful fireworks were until I saw that 20 people died! That is real bad.