The students were startled awake around 3 AM on Monday by a loud bang. The fire alarm went off immediately as a fire broke out in the entrance downstairs. The students, who prefer to remain anonymous for safety reasons, acted quickly. One student grabbed a fire extinguisher, jumped out of a window onto the flat roof, scaled a fence, made it to the street through a neighbours’ house and started putting out the fire. By the time emergency services arrived, the flames had been extinguished. The other students were able to leave through the front door.
How did they manage to stay so calm? “It sounds bizarre to say this, but after the first explosion, we were ready for it”, says the student who put out the fire. The first incident happened on 5 September, when Chickzz, the restaurant below their home on Volksbondweg, was hit by a smaller explosion. The police are investigating both incidents. The owner of Chickzz told De Limburger that she has “no idea” who might be targeting her restaurant.
All six students were at home during the explosion. Although they escaped unharmed, they no longer feel safe living there. “We’re just waiting for it to happen a third time”, says one of them. A housemate adds, “There’s a hole above the front door. You can see the first floor through it. What if the next explosion is even bigger?”
The students want to move, but finding affordable housing isn’t easy. Can the university help? “If the students reach out to us, we can contact landlords and try to prioritise their search for new accommodation”, says Maurice Evers, department head of Maastricht Housing. “We can’t guarantee anything – the university doesn’t directly rent out rooms, except at the Guesthouse, which is currently full. But we can act as an intermediary. The Huurteam can also review their current rental agreement to see if it can be terminated.”