Rotterdam incident not connected to attacks in Catalonia last week: source

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Reuters
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A van with a Spanish number plate near the concert venue Maassilo is seen during police investigations after a rock concert was cancelled due to a terror threat, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on August 23, 2017. AFP/ANP/Arie Kievit
 

MADRID: A van with Spanish license plates and containing gas bottles –found near a concert hall in Rotterdam on Wednesday – is not connected to the attacks in Catalonia last week, a judicial source told Reuters.

The source said a tip given to Dutch authorities by their Spanish counterparts, which was the result of an investigation by the Spanish Civil Guard.

The probe had been underway for some time and had no direct relation to the two vehicle attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils in Catalonia that killed 15 people.

A separate police source said the man arrested in Rotterdam was Spanish.

Vehicle found

The bus carrying Spanish license plates and containing gas bottles was found near the Maassilo – a former grain silo complex on the Maas river that has been converted into an event hall.

Police said the concert – which was to feature Californian band Allah-Las – was cancelled at around 7 PM local time, shortly before doors were to be opened for guests, after a tip from Spanish police.

However, the concertgoers were sent away from the Maassilo, the venue cordoned off, and the driver was taken into police custody for questioning, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said.

'Swift conclusions'

Aboutaleb told a news conference it was not clear whether the threat and the bus were connected, though Spanish police had tipped Dutch authorities to a potential threat.

He warned against "swift conclusions".

"It would be wrong at this moment to pile up these facts and conclude, 'thus, there was a plan to attack with gas bottles, et cetera,' because that was the picture last week in Barcelona. I would be careful with that."

The mayor said police and prosecutors had taken the threat against the concert seriously and it would now take time to investigate.

A bomb squad was examining the bus. No arrests or detentions were reported until the bus driver was detained at around 9 PM.

The National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism's office said the threat level in the Netherlands was unchanged at "substantial", where it has been since 2013.

Spanish police declined to comment.