Dutch police are on alert in Amsterdam’s Plantage Kerklaan following three explosions in the past five days.
In the latest blast on Monday, one witness told AT5 that he heard a loud bang just before 5:30 a.m. on Monday. There was a short-lived fire that damaged the outside of a sandwich shop and shattered the building’s windows, but luckily, nobody was reportedly injured.
Police are seeking a man in his early twenties seen riding a black motocross or electric bike in the area in connection with the explosion.
Two previous explosions earlier that week appeared to target pizza chain De Pizzabakkers, with one on Thursday at a pizza restaurant on the corner of Plantage Muidergracht, causing extensive fire damage. The other, a few days earlier, took place at the pizza chain’s takeaway shop a few doors down, resulting in some minor fire and smoke damage. Again, no injuries were reported.
It is unclear why or even if the pizza chain was purposely targeted. The blast on Monday was also not located at a De Pizzabakkers location. Police are not yet certain if Monday’s explosion is tied to the previous two.
The area in general is considered clean and safe, close to the city zoo and universities, as well as Amsterdam’s Holocaust museum.
This is just the latest news of violence in the Dutch capital, with one teen Dutch girl brutally murdered by a 22-year-old asylum seeker as she cycled home from the city. He has now been arrested for her murder as well as other sexual assaults, including the rape of another girl in Amsterdam.
JUST IN: A 22-year-old asylum seeker has been arrested for the brutal murder of 17-year-old Dutch girl Lisa, a student from Abcoude.
At 3::30 a.m. on Wednesday, she was stabbed by the suspect after cycling home from a night out with friends.
However, she is not the only… pic.twitter.com/A4utFxURyL
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) August 22, 2025However, the problems have extended across the country, with a teacher stabbed during a school musical in Alblasserdam in July and another violent stabbing that left police officers injured and two dead in Hoofddorp in May.
At the time, one local told media, “Hoofddorp is completely ruined by violence and drugs. This is not the first incident.”
This past April, the Netherlands announced new detention centers for troublesome asylum seekers, with Dutch Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber telling press: “The behavior of a group of disruptive and criminal asylum seekers who abuse the hospitality offered in the Netherlands and cause nuisance and damage is, in whatever form, absolutely unacceptable.”
Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders has long argued for a tougher stance on migration, leading his party to a landslide victory in the Dutch parliamentary elections, becoming the largest party in the House of Representatives in 2023. Despite this major win, Wilders was effectively blocked by other coalition partners from becoming prime minister, with his party’s campaign promises to fix the Netherlands’ migration problems largely left in the dust.
