THE HAGUE, Aug. 23 (Xinhua)-- Dutch police are investigating a threat in Rotterdam with a Spanish van with gas ganisters being halted and the driver being arrested on Wednesday night.
The van with a Spanish license plate was halted between 9 and 10 p.m. local time on the Mijnsherenlaan street on Wednesday night. It carried gas cylinders and is now being checked by the explosive ordnance disposal service. The driver was arrested and taken to the police station. Some report said it was a Spanish.
During a press conference, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb stated the van was driving suspiciously from one way to another on the street near the Maassilo concert hall, where a pop concert was cancelled earlier on Wednesday night on orders of the police due to a terror threat.
The building was being evacuated shortly after 7 p.m. and dozens of people who wanted to attend the concert which hadn't started yet, could not get in.
The link between the van and the terror threat at the Maassilo concert hall is now being investigated. "It is too early to draw conclusions," Aboutaleb stated.
On Wednesday afternoon, Aboutaleb has received a warning of a terror threat from the Spanish police, who are extra alert after the recent attacks in Spain. The message was that a terrorist attack was planned during the concert. According to Aboutaleb, the threat was serious enough to cancel the concert.
There was a concert scheduled by Allah-Las, a U.S. pop group from California. The name of Allah-Las has, according to the band members, no religious link.
