Sunday 9 February 2020

The Big Bang



It has indeed been a rough week – or at least part of it was. A few nights ago, late in the evening, there was an explosion in my neighbourhood – loud enough to be heard all over town, I have since learned.

I was sitting at my computer when it happened, just about to turn off and go to bed. Looking out of my windows I could not see anything; but decided I had better call the emergency center anyway, even if they must be getting other calls too.

Since I could not see any fire or anyone injured, I was put through to the police. Was put on hold for a while - but in such situations seconds tend to feel like minutes... By the time I did get to talk to someone, there were already ”bluelights” arriving to my street. Not until then did I begin to understand how close it was – and had a personal kind of ”aftershock”... literally trembling all over! 

I do believe there must be some British genes hidden somewhere in my DNA, because my instinct then was to brew myself some strong tea with extra sugar/honey in it... It helped! (I did not get much sleep that night, though...)

I feel this is not the place for too many details; but I learned afterwards that the explosion was caused by a large 'banger' placed at the entrance door of a tenement building. Thankfully, it caused no fire, and no people were injured. But had someone happened to be passing by just when the explosion took place, it could have been serious.

I think the police deserve credit for how they handled it so far. They arrived quickly, stayed around for hours and did not leave until an extra bomb squad had made sure there were no more explosives. They have also continued investigations in the area over the weekend, knocking on doors and interviewing people etc.

The weekend has been quiet, no more incidents, and the next couple of nights I slept okay. Have to confess I still feel a bit jumpy though. Tonight, there is a storm blowing outside, and all sorts of scary noises! (even if nothing like that explosion) I'm trying to remind myself that I'm really still living in a ”comparatively” safe corner of the world...

10 comments:

  1. that would make me nervous too. and keep me awake the night it happened. so glad it harmed no one, it could have been worse. I don't sleep well when a storm rages either, neither does Big Boy... lucky for us he is not afraid of fireworks and loud booms, just thunder. he can tell the difference. for no reason I can think of last night about 7 pm, someone set off about 30 minutes worth of loud fireworks, could hear them but not see them. sounded like WWIII

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    1. Sandra, this particular bang was short, but it was extremely loud!

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  2. That would set me on edge, too. A few years ago there was a lot of noise -- gun shots? Small bomb? in my neighborhood. It turned out to be firecrackers for Lunar New Year, but it had me worried.

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    1. It's always worrying when one does not know what it is, or why! :o

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  3. Someone put a kind of noisemaker/bomb in front of a building? I think I would have been up all night. When I think of violence, I never think of your part of the world. So glad you are alright!

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    1. Ginny I WAS up half the night. Didn't go to sleep properly until around 7 a.m. (for two hours)...

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  4. Oh dear! I am glad nobody was harmed, and I very much hope for the sake of your neighbourhood that it was all a misled attempt at a "funny prank". Your town is so beautiful and is certainly a great place to live, not one where bad elements of society should find much ground.
    Like you, this episode would have made me very nervous!
    The storm arrived here last night, too, but it was not as extreme in my area as in other parts of Germany, where all flights and long-distance trains have been suspended.

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    1. Meike, judging by how it's being treated by the police, I think it's considered more serious than just a prank gone wrong. (And I'm glad they're not taking it lightly.) The city does have other problematic districts already, even if (so far) where I live is not usually mentioned among them. Myself, I'm usually only out and about in the daytime, and where I feel fairly safe ... Hence that's also what you usually see on my blog!

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  5. That sounds scary. Glad there was no damage.

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    1. It was indeed scary; and I too am glad the damage was not worse!

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