‘Letter bombs’ explode at two post offices in Netherlands

Dutch police have been investigating a string of mail bombs sent over past month

Suspected letter bombs have caused explosions at two post offices in the Netherlands, police have said.

The first blast went off in the mail-sorting office of Dutch bank ABN Amro in the capital Amsterdam just after 8am on Wednesday. Half an hour later a second explosion was reported 125 miles away in the southern town of Kerkrade, in the post room of Japanese electronics firm Ricoh.

There were no reported injuries.

Dutch police were already investigating a spate of letter bombs, all apparently sent by the same person over the last few weeks. A hotel, a petrol station, a garage, an estate agent, and a payment collection service have been targeted with explosive devices, none of which had previously detonated, since 3 January.

In the previous cases, the letter bombs were followed by warning letters – the contents of which have not been made public by detectives.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday’s explosions were linked to the previous devices.

Police believe the motive for the latest bombs to be extortion, according to Dutch news agency ANP.

An employee in ABN Amro’s Amsterdam office heard a hissing sound as they were about to open a letter on Wednesday morning, the city’s police said.

“The employee threw the letter away and there was a small explosion,” the force added on Twitter.

ABN’s chief executive, Kees Van Dijkhuizen said he had spoken to the man who had handled the letter at the sorting centre in the western outskirts of the city.

“Good news is that he is not wounded, bad news of course is that these things happen and that our people have to deal with it,” Mr Dijkhuizen told journalists.

Ricoh said the blast in Kerkrade caused some damage to its post room, which has been closed for forensic analysis. The firm added in statement: “Thankfully there were no injuries, but those involved are of course very shocked.”

No arrests have been made by police investigating any of the bombs.