One person has died and several others have been injured in an explosion in the port area of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, a local police official said on Thursday. The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined and is under investigation, reports "Reuters".
"There was an explosion at around 11:30 a.m. on the "Mooseweg" street. "We are investigating how it got there," Rotterdam police said on social media.
The area of the incident has been cordoned off, and police and emergency services are on the scene.
At the same time, energy company Gunvor Energy, which operates oil storage tanks in the same part of the port, reported a separate "incident" that occurred during maintenance activities on Thursday morning. Several people were also injured in the incident.
"We are cooperating with local authorities", a Gunvor representative said.
It is not yet clear whether the company's reported incident and the explosion reported by police are related.
Local media also reported that several power outages had been recorded earlier in the day in the port of Rotterdam.
Regional security services and police are investigating whether there is a connection between the power outages and the subsequent explosion. So far, authorities have not announced a conclusion about the cause of the incident.
The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe and one of the continent's main energy and industrial centers. It is home to oil refineries, large tank farms and numerous petrochemical plants.