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2 Arrested as Rotterdam Concert Is Canceled Over Terrorism Threat 2 Arrested in Rotterdam After Terrorist Threat to Concert
(about 1 hour later)
THE HAGUE — Two people have been taken into custody after a rock concert in the Dutch city of Rotterdam was canceled following a warning from the police in Spain, where terrorist attacks last week left 15 people dead. THE HAGUE — Two people have been taken into custody after a rock concert in the Dutch city of Rotterdam was canceled following a warning about a terrorism threat from the police in Spain, where a night of attacks last week left 15 people dead.
A van with Spanish license plates that was later found to be carrying gas canisters was stopped by the local police at about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday near the Maassilo music venue, where Allah-Las, a band from California, was scheduled to play, and the driver was detained for questioning, the mayor of Rotterdam said. A 22-year-old man was arrested at 2 a.m. on Thursday in the Brabant region, to the southeast of Rotterdam, the police said, thanks to information provided by the Spanish authorities.
On Thursday, the Rotterdam Police said that a second suspect, a 22-year-old man, had been arrested at 2 a.m. in the Brabant region, about an hour’s drive to the southeast, thanks to information provided by the Spanish authorities. The arrest of the man, whose house was searched by the authorities, came not long after a Spanish citizen driving a van with Spanish license plates was taken into custody in Rotterdam.
Neither man has been identified, and no connection between the two men has been announced by investigators. The police in Amsterdam on Thursday said that they had found a hand grenade in a doorway on Amstel Street, but it was not clear whether that discovery was related to the two arrests. The van driver was stopped by the local police at about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday near the Maassilo music venue, after the concert by Allah-Las, a band from California, had been called off.
Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb of Rotterdam told reporters that it was “still too early for conclusions” when asked whether the van was tied to the attacks in Barcelona last week. The driver was detained for questioning after the van was found to be carrying gas canisters, an immediate source of concern in light of the attacks in Spain by a terrorist cell that had similar canisters at a bomb-making factory in a house in the coastal town of Alcanar. The cell also used a van in its attack in Barcelona.
Mr. Aboutaleb said that officers had become suspicious of the van when they observed it starting and stopping several times, and the police said in a statement that the driver had appeared to be inebriated. A blast on the evening of Aug. 16 that destroyed the house in Alcanar was initially attributed to a gas explosion, but investigators later determined that the terrorists had stored more than 100 canisters in the house and had been planning to use them for an even deadlier attack that had to be abandoned.
An officer who inspected the van noticed a couple of gas bottles, and the driver, a mechanic, was detained. Bomb experts searched the van but found nothing else of interest, the police said, and a search of the driver’s house found nothing to link him to a terrorist threat. Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb of Rotterdam told reporters that it was “still too early for conclusions” when asked whether the van stopped in his city was tied to the attacks in Barcelona.
The police were verifying the permit to carry canisters that was held by the driver, who “will be questioned when sober,” the statement said. The authorities did not provide additional details about the information passed on from Spain, neither man has been identified, and no connection between the two men has been announced by investigators.
Unlike its neighbors, Belgium and Germany, the Netherlands has been spared direct terrorist attacks on its soil in recent years, although its citizens have been victims of attacks elsewhere.
On prominent public squares in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the police presence tends to be subdued, and it is still unusual to see an automatic rifle in the hands of the Dutch authorities. At the seat of government in The Hague, Parliament buildings are protected by well-armed national police, but government buildings are not.
Politically, however, there has been a change in thinking, according to Ronald Kroeze, a political scientist at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. “Whenever the prime minister, Mark Rutte, comments on terrorist attacks abroad, there’s a sense that we are lucky that it hasn’t happened here,” he said.
Mr. Aboutaleb, the Rotterdam mayor, said that officers had become suspicious of the van when they observed it starting and stopping several times. The police said in a statement that the driver had appeared to be inebriated, and an officer who inspected the van noticed the gas canisters.
The driver, a mechanic, was detained, but bomb experts found nothing else of interest after conducting a search of the van.
A search of the driver’s house found nothing to link him to a terrorist threat, according to the police, who were checking his permit to carry gas canisters. He “will be questioned when sober,” the statement said.
The members of Allah-Las, who were already at the music venue when the warning came from the Spanish authorities, were driven to an unknown location by the police. They later released a statement to The Associated Press saying that they were safe and thanking the local authorities for their help.The members of Allah-Las, who were already at the music venue when the warning came from the Spanish authorities, were driven to an unknown location by the police. They later released a statement to The Associated Press saying that they were safe and thanking the local authorities for their help.